The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will make $8 billion available for one-time payments to American farmers in the 2026 harvest season to provide relief during temporary market disruptions and increased input costs.
Similar to the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, the Harvest Fuel Relief (HFR) program will provide simple, proportional support to producers using a uniform formula to cover a portion of modeled losses during the 2026 crop year. This national loss average will be based on FSA reported planted acres, Economic Research Service cost of production estimates, and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates yields and prices.
The $8 billion in payments provided through the Harvest Fuel Relief program are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act and will be administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA).
Commodity-specific payment rates for Title I commodities will be released in November. Payment methodology for other eligible commodities will be announced at a later date. Crop insurance linkage will not be required for participation in the Harvest Fuel Relief program; however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the enhanced risk management tools included in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act to best protect against price risk and volatility in the future.
Producers of non-Title I commodities, including specialty crop growers and fishermen, are encouraged to provide data related to increased fuel costs via email for USDA’s consideration when determining payment rates.
Eligible producers are encouraged to create a Login.gov account in advance of the application period announcement. Pre-filled applications will be available online to producers with a Login.gov account linked to USDA.
The Harvest Fuel Relief program builds upon the Trump administration’s unprecedented support for America’s farmers. Earlier this year, the Farmer Bridge Assistance program delivered $12 billion in one-time bridge payments over 560,000 farmers across the country. Just two weeks ago, nearly $14 billion in gross payments were provided to producers through the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs through The Working Families Tax Cuts Act — an approximate $8 billion increase over what farmers would have received without the historic bill.
Visit USDA’s Farmers First website for more information on assistance programs for producers.
