As harvest teams race across the country this fall, high prices for inputs like diesel and fertilizer continue to eat at the margins. Now the leader of the Senate Ag Committee indicates it might warrant additional aid payments to farmers.
“This is high-stakes stuff. This is all about keeping families in business that have been in business for generations,” says U.S. Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, Chairman of the Senate Ag Committee
During an interview with Chip Flory on AgriTalk, Boozman pointed at the rescission bill and previously allocated funds as the potential source of those payments.
“We’ve got $11 billion in the rescission bill, that’s probably not going to go anywhere soon, so I talked about getting those dollars shifted over,” says Sen. Boozman.
Politico also reports that Republicans wanted to bundle about $11 billion in direct farm aid with a forthcoming spending package. According to Shin, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that the farm aid would “ride along pretty easily if we get that money for the military.”
Boozman says President Trump agrees and is on board with the idea of additional aid to farmers.
“He can’t announce how much since it hasn’t passed, but he’s very much in favor of us doing and has agreed to help us,” Boozman explains. “In fact, he’ll lead the charge with Congress to get the thing passed.”
Rescissions only apply to discretionary spending and so that can include things like foreign aid, agency operations, or even public media. They cannot be used to cut mandatory spending like Social Security.
On Top of Previous Payments
These won’t be the first payments to farmers under this administration.
Previous payments include $9.8 billion in market relief payments for 20 covered crops in 2025 as a part of the American Relief Act. In December 2025, up to $11 billion was used for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program - providing relief to U.S. row crop farmers.
“The plan we are announcing today ensures American farmers can continue to plan for the next crop year. It is imperative we do what it takes to help our farmers, because if we cannot feed ourselves, we will no longer have a country,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins when that program was announced.
In an April interview with the Red River Farm Network, Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce said that over $10 billion had been obligated to more than 540,000 applications.
Don’t Forget the Farm Bill
After weeks of negotiations, the Farm Bill did officially pass out of the Senate Agriculture Committee. The process took longer than anticipated following debates over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) bill error rate. Boozman says lawmakers are collaborating across the aisle and with their House counterparts to finalize a bill that can pass after the election during the lame duck session of Congress.
“We’re working with our House counterparts now and also working with the Democrats in the House and the Senate trying to get together and have a final bill that we can pass as soon as we get back once the election is over,” says Sen. Boozman.
Sen. Boozman says key agricultural amendments—including the Save Our Bacon Act and a solution for California’s Proposition 12—will be ironed out during conference. While the Save Our Bacon Act is included in the House bill, language supporting nationwide, year-round E15 availability (currently in the Senate bill and a standalone House measure) could be merged into the final text. Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (M-COOL) will also be addressed in conference, with momentum building toward its inclusion.
Delivering a finalized package before the end of the year remains a realistic goal. Sen. Boozman credits pressure from the farming community for keeping the legislation moving forward. He emphasized that the legislation transcends party lines, focusing strictly on supporting agricultural producers.
