Politics

Trump grants farmers 8 billion dollars in diesel relief

One-time checks follow 12 billion paid out earlier this year as diesel holds above 6 dollars a gallon, Iowa Farmers Union chief calls the package a band-aid two weeks before the midterms

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newsweek.com
Soybeans are harvested at Warpup Farms in Warren, Indiana, on September 17, 2025. Soybeans are harvested at Warpup Farms in Warren, Indiana, on September 17, 2025. newsweek.com

The Trump administration will distribute 8 billion dollars in one-time payments to farmers hit by diesel costs, with the national average still above 6 dollars a gallon as the fall harvest runs. The Harvest Fuel Relief program, announced on Monday, arrives two weeks before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. Aaron Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, called it "a Band-Aid response" and said farmers "never should have been put in this position."

The mechanics promise money before the vote and delivery after it. Payments are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and will be administered by the Farm Service Agency, covering a portion of modeled losses for the 2026 crop year through a uniform formula built on reported acreage, production-cost estimates and USDA yield and price data. Commodity-specific payment rates are expected in November, and as of Tuesday the USDA had announced neither an application date nor a payment schedule. The package follows 12 billion dollars in one-time Farmer Bridge Assistance payments delivered to more than 560,000 farmers earlier this year — 20 billion dollars in checks inside twelve months, none of it touching the price at the pump.

Diesel costs have risen across the globe since the war in Iran began on February 28. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, reckons farmers, truckers, construction workers and beyond will have spent roughly 55 billion dollars more on diesel since March 1. Lehman attributes the farmers' plight to "trade and military conflicts" that put them "on the front line of the consequences of those policy choices," and wants the war concluded "without sacrificing our farmers' bottom lines." The same administration has already set aside its own Russian sanctions law, including 100 percent tariffs on buyers of Russian oil, as those fuel prices began to bite at home.

Farm organizations welcomed the money while arguing that one-time payments cannot provide the long-term stability producers need. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the investment will "bring certainty to our farmers during this harvest." The Iowa Farmers Union has endorsed Democratic candidates for November 3. The payment rates arrive in November.