NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD-TV) — It will be some time before the Trump Administration and USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program Payments reach farmers’ accounts. Secretary Rollins estimates they’ll start going out on the final day of February. However, farmers still need to complete work to qualify.
Officials set a deadline for Friday, Dec. 19, one week from Friday, to declare 2025 acreage reports with the USDA, which will become the data basis to deliver individual sums of aid.
Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program: What We Know So Far
Up to $11 billion goes to a new Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program for row-crop producers of barley, chickpeas, corn, cotton, lentils, oats, peanuts, peas, rice, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, canola, crambe, flax, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame, and sunflower.
Payments are based on modeled 2025 crop-year losses, using:
- FSA planted acres
- ERS cost-of-production
- WASDE yields and prices
- Economic modeling
No crop insurance linkage is required, but USDA encourages farmers to use new OBBBA risk tools.
Key deadlines and timing:
- Farmers must have accurate 2025 acreage reports filed by Dec. 19, 2025 (5 p.m. ET).
- Commodity-specific payment rates will be released by the end of December.
- FBA checks are expected by Feb. 28, 2026.
- Upcoming payments will be capped at $155,000 per producer.
Calculating FBA Program Payments
But how will the USDA go about calculating those payments based on the type of crop and planted acreages?
Farm CPA Paul Neiffer joined us on Friday’s Market Day Report to break down the accounting behind the aid and help producers prepare their paperwork before the rapidly approaching deadline.
In his interview with RFD-TV News, Neiffer outlined the key timeline for the aid program, explained how USDA may calculate payments, and noted how the aid package application process differs from the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program.
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We asked RFD-TV Markets Specialist Tony St. James to calculate potential payments, using cotton as an example:
- 9,296,000 acres planted (according to Monday’s Crop Production Report
- 2025 ERS estimate of $900/acre cost of production (from earlier this year)
- 929 lbs/acre production (December’s WASDE) at an average price of 60 cents/lb.
Using that key data:
- 929 lb/acre x 60¢/lb = $557.40/acre - $900 (cost of prod) = $342.60 in losses per acre.
- Using a 60% factor, that would be $205.56/acre, and a producer with around 750 acres would max out.
With roughly 6,000 cotton farmers in the U.S. and approximately 9.5 million acres of production, that’s just under 1,600 acres per farmer. 6,000 cotton farmers reached the maximum of $155,000, totaling $930,000,000 (about 8.5% of the $11 billion in assistance).
Tax Considerations for FBA Program Payments
Given the quick turnaround time for farmers to qualify for this USDA aid, many may be concerned about tax implications for operations and business planning for the year ahead, as tax season approaches. Farm legal and taxation expert Roger McEowen with the Washburn School of Law in Kansas also joined us on Friday’s program to share his insights.
In his interview with RFD-TV News, McEowen also discusses what these payment calculations may look like and the potential tax implications of bridge payments for producers. He also shared his key takeaways from the program, including what he has heard from farmers about the need for, and shortcomings of, this aid rollout.
Export Data Signals Progress on China’s Grain Commitments
Export data is still coming in from sales during the government shutdown, and it shows China bought another big batch of U.S. soybeans – but there are other sales to “unknown destinations,” too. One trader, Brian Hoops with Midwest Market Solutions, believes that all signs point to China.
“264,000 metric tons [to China], 186,000 [metric tons of] corn to an unknown destination, and then 226,000 metric tons of soybeans sold to an unknown destination — and as we’ve mentioned previously, the trade assumes ‘unknown destination’ equals China,” Hoops said. “That’s just kind of how they believe it to be. […] It usually ends up being China, and a lot of times, it takes some time to switch it over, but in the end, it does end up being China.”
The White House has been pushing China to accelerate U.S. soybean purchases. This week, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a Senate panel that they have until the end of this year’s growing season to meet the 12 million metric ton total promised earlier this year.
HTS Commodities’ Lewis Williamson told RFD-TV News on Thursday that he is worried the market will get ahead of itself while government data continues to trickle in.
“You know, we’ve seen a nice move up in the markets; now you’ve seen a big correction in beans,” Williamson said. “And when I look at the CFTC data, which has been very much delayed because the government being shut down. I think when we finally get caught up, we’re going to see a big, big ,long position in meal and beans, so we want to keep our eye on it. I think that could become a problem on the future there when we look ahead.”
Williamson is also monitoring grain transportation networks, such as the Mississippi River, where water levels are once again low near Memphis. If the area does not see rainfall soon, he warned that logistical problems will not be far behind.
As Details Emerge on Bridge Aid, Opinions Remain Mixed
A California congressman is sounding off, warning that specialty crop growers in his region are not getting a good deal. During an open-mic event before the House Ag Committee, Rep. Jim Costa, D-CA, told the panel that priorities are being misplaced.
“The recent Farm Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program announced this week by the Administration, $12 billion, of which only $11 billion is going to row crops, $1 billion to specialty crops — I don’t get it,” Rep. Costa said. “ ‘This is Deja vu all over again,’ as Yogi Bear once said. We went through this in the first Trump Administration, where we were acknowledging that tariffs had a negative impact on the Farmgate economy.”
Not everyone is upset with the details of the aid package. One Indiana farmer was with President Trump and Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins when the deal was announced on Monday. He believes the Administration understands the current issues in farm country.
“They were very clear that they do have our backs and our best interests, but they do understand that this is not entirely what we are after,” Tyler Everett told RFD-TV News on Thursday. “We are after better trade and better foreign relations and exports, but they do have our backs with this bridge payment to get us from one administration and one crop year to the next. So, they do want what’s best for us in their hearts.”
As farmers decide how to use their share of the bridge payments, many have said they will use most of the money to pay off debt. Brady Huck of Advanced Trading told RFD-TV Market Specialists that he will monitor adoption among producers and wait for better grain prices.
“Is it going to cause more farmer-selling and give them the incentive to move some cash bushels and get them whole? Or is it going to lock those bin doors and bridge the gap to be able to sit this out and ‘store and ignore’ into the first of the year?” Huck said. “I think a lot of the trades are thinking there might be some cash bushels that shake free after the calendar year turns over, but we’ll see. I’m not sure where this bridge goes.”
Stay with RFD-TV News on Rural Evening News and the Market Day Report for continuing coverage on this developing agriculture news story.
