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Farm CPA Estimates Per-Acre Bridge Payment Rates In Anticipation of Final USDA Numbers

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 20:47:39 GMT

The Trump Administration, recognizing the challenges in farm country related to trade negotiations and the impact on production costs and prices, is rolling out a new $12 billion aid program. The Farmer Bridge Assistance program is a one-time payment delivered to farmers, which the administration says have been impacted by unfair market disruptions.

“We have been looking at the impacts of a lot of components related to agriculture,” explains Richard Fordyce, USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation. “Some prices are not where we want to see them from the commodity perspective, and inputs seem to be very reluctant to come down, whether that’s fertilizer, crop protection, seed or equipment.”

Higher safety net reference prices for the major crops, approved in the One Big Beautiful Bill earlier this year, are on the way but they won’t be available until October 2026. Hence, the decision to deliver a “bridge” payment was made, given the income challenges plaguing farmers in several corners of agriculture.

“The increase in those reference prices is going to really make a big difference from a safety net standpoint,” Fordyce adds.

Farmer Bridge Assistance Enrollment Starts Today

Getting enrolled begins today. Eligible producers must verify 2025 acreage reports by Dec. 19.

“I’m going to guess 99% of acreage reports are complete, but we want to give folks who maybe haven’t done an acreage report up to this point the opportunity to get that acreage report filed,” Fordyce says.

He says most farmers likely did an acreage report by July 15 and fall-seeded crops were done in fall 2024.

"[These few days are] for the folks who have not done one or maybe historically don’t do them,” he explains. “It’s an opportunity for those folks to get that done.”

Payment Estimates Before Christmas

Fordyce says once the acreage numbers are in, they’ll finalize the payment rates by crop. Those will be ready by the week of Dec. 22.

“The reason we wanted to get that done before the first of the year is to give some certainty to producers,” Fordyce says. “If they’re trying to secure financing for the 2026 crop year, they’ll understand where they are financially and where this bridge payment will come in [to help] make a difference.”

Farm CPA Paul Neiffer says USDA appears to be considering a calculation for the Farmer Bridge Assistance similar to the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP).

“ECAP took the December 2024 marketing year average estimates from USDA and then subtracted the estimated cost of production for the 2024 crop and then applied a payment percentage,” Neiffer explains. "$10 billion was authorized for ECAP, $11 billion for Farmer Bridge Assistance. Therefore, it is likely Farmer Bridge Assistance payment rates will be at least 10% higher on average.”

Neiffer assumes any increase in the cost of production for 2025 compared with 2024 will be about the same percentage for all crops. Therefore, the only difference between ECAP and FBA is the estimated marketing year average price.

Here are his estimates for final Farmer Bridge Assistance payment rates for six crops:

If this tracks with USDA’s final calculations, it’s clear Southern farmers, those raising cotton and rice, will see higher per-acre payouts than soybean growers in the Midwest. USDA says these payments are expected to be delivered by the end of February 2026.

USDA says Farmer Bridge Assistance applies to producers of a broad list of row crops and oilseeds, including:

Barley
Corn
Cotton
Peanuts
Oats
Rice
Sorghum
Soybeans
Wheat

Plus crops such as canola, flax, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame and sunflower, among others.

A Bridge to 2026

The administration had been expected to roll out as much as $15 billion in aid back in October, but Rollins said the 43-day federal government shutdown pushed back the timeline.

During his first term, Trump directed about $23 billion in aid to farmers. Reuters reports producers this year were already on track to receive nearly $40 billion in ad-hoc disaster and economic assistance.

The new trade aid package is widely welcomed, but many U.S. farmers say the damage from the trade war, and China’s boycott of U.S. soybeans through harvest, has already taken its toll. Billions of dollars in lost soybean sales pushed China toward South American suppliers, creating long-term financial and market consequences.

“Certainly we have an idea of what that gap is between where prices are and where the cost of production is [along with] just a whole bunch of other economic indicators,” Fordyce says. “We’re not going to be able to make up that full difference with this eleven billion but it certainly is a step in the right direction and it will offer some relief.”

Scratch Your Classic Iron Itch With 3 Old Tractors That Still Steal the Show

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 20:18:11 GMT

Today’s tractors are jam-packed with GPS guidance and autosteer, sensors and camera arrays and LED lighting packages. Operators sit comfortably in air-conditioned cabs with built-in mini fridges full of cold drinks and responsive computing displays at their fingertips.

The whole deal gives the look and feel of a rolling mission control/home office on wheels and, quite frankly, many new tractor cabs are probably a whole lot nicer than your average home office.

There’s clearly no going back to the bare-bones, analog tractors with rigid metal seats and open air cabs Dad and Grandpa ran, but many of today’s farmers have cultivated an enduring affinity for the classic farm workhorses of yesteryear.

If you consider yourself among the legions of classic Iron Heads, check out this trio of recent Tractor Tales segments for a quick hit of some of that sweet, sweet farm machinery nostalgia:

Rebel With a Cause: The Ex-Pat Tractor That Wasn’t Supposed to be Sold in the U.S.

Southern Michigan farmer Nicklas Totzke might just possess the ultimate classic tractor trump card: a well-conditioned 1947 Empire 90 that Machinery Pete says is one of only about 380 known to exist today.

Totzke’s prized red Empire was originally shipped overseas to help rebuild bombed-out Eastern Europe farming villages devastated by the Axis blitzkrieg campaign during World War II. He says the spartan red machines are pretty “light duty” and were built with mostly Jeep Motor Company components — produced at the time by Willys-Overland and Ford Motor Company — and were used primarily to pull old horse drawn equipment.

Totzke says about 1,000 to 1,200 of the export-only machines reverse immigrated back to North America, ending up on farms across Canada and here in the U.S., which is how he ended up with his beloved Empire 90.

The Farmall 230 That Dutifully Trudges on in Pennsylvania Dairy Country

Pennsylvania dairy farmer Ed Thiele will never forget the day his father proudly test drove a brand new Farmall 230 around the streets of Butler, Pa. That impromptu dry run must have gone well, because today that same candy apple red beauty with the iconic pewter white IH hood ornament resides in his machinery shed near Cabot in Butler County.

“It’s been in the family ever since,” Thiele says, adding that if a fire were to set its sights on his treasured machinery barn, Dad’s classic Farmall — not the high-priced, expensive modern tractor he uses on his dairy operation — would surely be the first tractor he’d run into the flames to pull to safety.

While the machine today is semi-retired it can still run an auger, Thiele notes. The old tractor is in such good condition you can hardly tell it’s been chugging along for nearly seven decades at this point.

“Back in the day it had a sickle board mower on it, we raked hay with it, pulled silage wagons with it; we did everything with it when I was a kid,” he adds.

Wait, Machinery From the 80s Is Considered Classic Now? Well Then, That Makes Me Old

At one point in time, the John Deere 4840 tractor, at 180 hp, was the largest and most powerful row crop tractor in the manufacturers stable of farm machines. Illinois farmer Chad Jacobs says his 1982 edition represents the final swan song for the model itself, before Deere’s more advanced, new 4850 took its place in 1983.

Jacobs acquired the classic tractor to preserve his grandfather’s memory and heritage. Grandpa picked up the tractor out of necessity, right after tearing up the draw bar in his 4020 hauling manure.

“This is what was sitting on the [dealer] lot; it has 2,800 original hours on it,” Jacobs says. “We still drag a lot of wagons around, so it’s a wagon puller now.”

Jacobs farms with his brother, and the pair are working to teach the next generation of Jacobs progeny about the family farming legacy, passed down over all those rides in Grandpa’s trusty 4840.

“As far as me sitting in here and pulling wagons with it, it just brings back memories of my grandpa,” he says. “I think he’d be very proud of the fact that it’s still being used.”

For more classic Tractor Tales, head over to the @FarmJournal YouTube channel to watch archived segments, or follow Tractor Tales on X @TractorTales . New episodes of “U.S. Farm Report,” where new Tractor Tales segments debut, air every Friday afternoon on Farm Journal TV.

Your Next Read: Nebraska Farmer Calls Out Agriculture Machinery Companies Over High Prices

Navigate The Used Farm Equipment Market With 5 Smart Buyer Hacks

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 16:40:38 GMT

If you’re looking to acquire a used machine in the next few months, this episode of the “Moving Iron” podcast is for you.

Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson and Casey Seymour have over 50 years of combined experience in the farm equipment industry. Over the decades, they’ve witnessed plenty of good and bad from buyers in the auction and secondary markets.

Here are a handful of tips they recommend buyers heed as they hit auctions and dealer lots this fall and winter:

Keep a close eye on interest rates. In the recent past when interest rates were sub-3%, watching rate fluctuations wasn’t as critical as it is today with 7% and 8% interest rates. Those high rates add a lot of dollars to the final price tag you’ll end up paying out over the years when you finance a tractor or combine.
Have cash on hand? Consider a higher down payment. High interest rates have a depreciating effect on equity in any high-value asset. One way to combat that is to increase your down payment. While 20% is normally the standard, you might consider going higher to 30% to 35% of the total cost of the machine.
Use data from MachineryPete.com and trusted sources. Its fine to be emotional about your favorite college football program or your trusty old farm dog, but emotion in the buying process should be kept to a minimum. Use auction data on the specific model you’re targeting to avoid emotional overpays and stay within current market value.
Get a handle on current machinery supply levels. How many used machines are sitting on dealer lots can have an effect on auction pricing. It’s basic supply and demand economics: if there are a lot of used machines of a particular make and model available on the secondary market, you can probably find a good deal on the auction circuit, and vice versa. You can even do your own unofficial research and take a spin past your local equipment dealer to see what’s on the lot.
Know the trends. Q4 and Q1 of the new year are two time periods when you’re likely to find used equipment bargains because, other than in 2015 and last year, used machinery values often drop once fall harvest wraps up. It remains to be seen, however, if that trend continues.

“I think we’re going to start seeing the numbers fall off, which will push things forward a little bit, [just] supply and demand stuff,” Seymour says. “But between now and probably the first quarter of ’26, that’s going to be your best opportunity to buy a machine at a good value. I don’t think you’re going to be able to buy it any cheaper than right now.”

Commodities and Market Updates

Shawn Hackett, president and CEO of Hackett Financial Advisors, gave an update on recent movement within USDA’s corn and soybean yield projections and how that will affect crop futures. He sees an upper $4 corn market and upper $11 soybean market as appropriate projections moving forward.

And used equipment specialist Aaron Fintel, 21st Century Equipment, says he focuses on how much equity he will be able to realize and how marketable the used machine will be six months from now when making a purchase decision.

You can head on over to YouTube to watch the full episode . Please be sure to hit the “Thumbs Up” button to “Like” the video and click on the “Subscribe” button to get a notification when a new episode drops.

Classic Iron: Farmer Fred Pflugh's Iconic Oliver 1855 Tractor Shines in Western PA

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:27:08 GMT

The western Pennsylvania borough that birthed NFL legend Joseph Willie “Broadway Joe” Namath is home to another legend of the green-and-white: farmer Fred Pflugh’s beautifully restored Oliver 1855 tractor.

(Fred Pflugh)

Pflugh, 70, has cobbled together an impressive collection of classic Oliver tractors; he thinks he acquired the 1855 back in 1988 or 1989. The old workhorse hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down just yet: “This tractor just wants to run,” Pflugh says. “It’s strong … it likes to throttle.”

Pflugh’s collection started with his Oliver 1655, and he just kept adding to the fleet over the years. He still farms corn, soybeans and hay to feed to his beef cattle on just over 120 acres, while his son and wife manage a local farm meat market that sells fresh freezer beef.

(Fred Pflugh)

“The 55-series is just a nice tractor,” he says. “They dressed them up from the fifties.”

Pflugh says it was the eye-pleasing look of the Oliver line that drew him in right off the bat. From the two front headlights to the styled grill and iconic white trim that sets off the engine compartment, the classic tractors have that timeless, from-another-era-Americana feel that you can’t replicate today.

Don’t let the good looks fool you, though: Plugh still uses the Oliver 1855 around the farm, grinding feed, mowing hay, disking fields and hauling manure to spread across his rolling Alleghany valley fields.

The tractor’s engine, a Waukesha Turbo, features a straight pipe exhaust that triumphantly juts to the heavens from the front hood scoop. Waukesha Motor Company (Waukesha, Wis.) was founded in 1906 and built over 400,000 lightweight, powerful tractor engines before closing shop for good in the early 1970s. Oliver Tractor Co. was reportedly the engine builder’s largest customer, according to the Waukesha Engine Historical Society.

(Tractor Tales)

Pflugh makes no bones about how he envisions the future for his Oliver fleet: These steeped-in-history tractors will never leave the family farm.

“I think my son will keep them all up, and I wouldn’t doubt that he’ll be showing them, too, ya know,” he says. “I like that they still go to the field, and I like them on this farm, I can tell you that.”

Want more classic Tractor Tales? Head over to YouTube and hit the “Subscribe” and “Thumbs Up” buttons to get the latest episodes on your YouTube feed.

Your Next Read: Machinery Pete’s Fourth of July Farm Equipment Highlights

Tractor Tales: Rediscover Classics from John Deere and International Harvester

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 21:31:23 GMT

If you love antique and unique farm tractors, then Machinery Pete’s Tractor Tales segment is right up your alley. You can find the videos on YouTube. The segments are also featured each weekend on U.S. Farm Report.

Here’s a roundup of some of the latest Tractor Tales videos.

John Deere Tractor Tales

Ohio farmer Chris Durham has one of only 39 John Deere 435 diesel tractors on his McClure, Ohio, farm. Making this tractor even more special is the original engine Deere planned to use for this model was swapped out for a General Motors 253 hp “Detroit Diesel” two stroke engine. Durham said that Deere did not like how the engine sounded or its rough starts in cold weather, so large-scale production was scrapped.

Manlius, Ill., farmer Kim Sanden and a couple buddies took the time to painstakingly restore this 1970 John Deere 4070 diesel tractor, which Sanden purchased from a lady in Springfield, Ill. The old workhorse tractor was pretty beat up when Sanden and his friends first got to wrenching on it, but you’d never be able to tell looking at it today. That is one sweet, sweet looking restored John Deere tractor.

Colorado farmer Tyson Hanson and his family have restored a John Deere GP tractor that has been in the family for over 50 years. It’s the first tractor Hanson ever drove as a kid growing up on the farm, and it’s not one you’d easily forget due to the unique clickity-clackity-sputtering cadence of its engine. It was owned by Hanson’s great-grandfather, who owned 200-plus two-cylinder tractors during his life. Apparently, the old tractor is still a beast when it comes to tractor pulls: The Hansons have only lost a handful of pulls with the GP.

Fun with Farmall

You’re going to start picking up on a theme with these: Farmers love to go back and buy the first tractor they ever drove, and that’s exactly the case with Saint Mary’s, Kan., farmer Dan Kennedy and his candy-apple red Farmall BN tractor.

Kennedy purchased the tractor from a farm in Shanksville, Penn., that was right next to the field where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on 9/11. Kennedy says he still gets choked up even today talking about this special tractor. That’s one farmer who will truly never forget.

Adrian, N.D., farmer Lee Miller has a beautifully restored 1949 M-D Diesel that also takes unleaded gasoline. He says the diesel engine is more powerful than the gasoline combustion engine, so most farmers would take the tractor to a local machine shop and have them widen the original rims a few inches so they could use wider footprint tires to take advantage of that additional torque to the ground.

Northfield, Minn., farmer Jeremy Sevcik bought and restored a 1946 H Series tractor as part of a 4-H project during high school. He fixed a broken gear box, sandblasted all the sheet metal and gave it a fresh coat of paint. It turned out to be a pretty solid school project: Sevcik bought the tractor off his Dad last fall, and he uses it for pulling trailers and moving around hay racks.

Your Next Read: Casey Seymour and Machinery Pete Join Forces on the Moving Iron Podcast

Iconic Holiday Road Trip Stop Returns to Its Georgia Pecan Farm Roots

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 16:31:00 GMT

Dashing through the snow in a front-wheel drive sleigh … the seasonal holiday road trip is a right of passage for many families. At one time, the roadside icon Stuckey’s was often a likely stop.

“At our peak, we had 368 stores in 40 states,” says Stephanie Stuckey, current chair of the Stuckey’s Corporation. “Stuckey’s really is synonymous with the road trip, during what I consider the era of the great American Road Trip, which would have been the 1950s to the 1970s.”

Stephanie Stuckey, current chair of the Stuckey’s Corporation.

(Stuckey’s Corporation)

The roadside oasis, and its iconic pecan candies, are woven into the fabric of highway history.

“Back then, Americans wouldn’t travel by plane. They would load up in the car, usually in a family station wagon, and drive for five days,” Stuckey says.

The company was founded during the Great Depression by pecan farmer, WS Stuckey, as a roadside pecan stand.

“He always considered himself first and foremost, a pecan farmer and a pecan broker,” adds Stuckey, his granddaughter.

Pecan farmer and Stuckey’s Corporation founder, WS Stuckey.

(Stuckey’s Corporation)

Today she’s leading a resurgence of that business, not as a highway stop, but as a pecan company with roots on Georgia farms.

“This is our big audacious goal: I want us to be the go-to pecan snack brand in the world,” she says.

Helping her on the journey is RG Lamar, a third-generation pecan farmer and company CEO.

RG Lamar, a third-generation pecan farmer and Stuckey’s Corporation CEO.

(Stuckey’s Corporation)

“I can say as a Georgia pecan grower, I may be a little bit biased, I don’t know, but I genuinely believe we grow the best pecans in the world in the state of Georgia,” Lamar smiles.

He credits ample rainfall in the southeast and higher oil content with helping grow a larger-sized nut. The result is perfect for creating candied treats at Christmas.

Today, on an in-shell basis, Stuckey’s handles about 2 million pounds of Georgia pecans a year. As a state, Georgia grows roughly 100 million pounds.

“Interestingly, roughly 10% of the pecans grown in Georgia are grown in someone’s yard,” Larmar says.

Soon, the newly refocused Stuckey’s brand will be using even more Georgia pecans as the business continues to expand.

“Why is it that when you go into the grocery store, walk down the salty snack aisle and you get to the nuts, you can find every other nut sitting in that section, but you don’t see pecans there very often,” Lamar asks.

Georgia Pecan Orchard

(Stuckey’s Corporation)

It’s a question this farmer and farmer’s granddaughter are aiming to answer.

“Of the original 368 stores there are only 12 left,” Stuckey says. “That’s OK because I saw what wasn’t on the balance sheets and that is the value of the brand.”

A brand, dumping, churning, dipping and packaging pecans, log rolls and clusters just the way the founder WS Stuckey did when he started.

“I would like to think if he were alive today, he would be really happy we’re making our comeback the way we began, as a pecan company,” Stuckey says.

Watch Christmas in the Country on Dec. 25 on AgDay TV .

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Corn and Soybeans Make Fresh Lows: Is the Market Too Bearish Heading Into the USDA Reports?

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 22:30:45 GMT

Grains closed mixed on Thursday, with a lower day in livestock.

Corn and soybeans forged more new lows for the move on relentless fund selling, but fundamentally it has been tied to weather and report positioning.

DuWayne Bosse, Bolt Marketing, says the trade is leaning too bearish heading into the USDA reports, but corn and soybeans have also experienced selling tied to improved weather and rain in the Eastern Corn Belt.

In addition, there has been farmer selling and pricing of basis fixed contracts ahead of first notice day on Friday for the July contracts.

“I think the trade is trying to price in an additional 2 million acres of corn,” he says.

This is despite average trade guesses only showing an increase of around 300,000 aces of corn and 250,000 acres of soybeans.

Prevent plant and acres now flooded will not show up on this report according to Bosse.

Quarterly stocks also show a potential build in stocks of corn by 770 million bushels, with 166 million bushels of soybeans and 114 million bushels of wheat.

Bosse thinks a lot of bearishness has already been priced in, so if there is a bullish surprise it could create a big, short covering rally.

However, November soybeans need to hold $11.00 and December corn took out $4.40 support and need to hold Thursday’s closing price around $4.33.

Wheat was up 12 to 18 cents in the three exchanges on short covering as the market was oversold and due for a correction.

Exports were a little better this morning at 24.5 million bushels and the Stats Canada acreage figure came in 300,000 below estimates, but Bosse doesn’t think that was enough to justify the rally so it was mostly technical.

While cattle futures were mostly lower except for the June live cattle contract made another all-time high for the spot month chasing higher cash before expiration.

The rest of the live and feeder cattle futures saw profit taking going into the end of month and end of quarter.

AgDay Markets Now: DuWayne Bosse Explains Why Corn and Soybeans Can't Find a Bottom

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 22:09:22 GMT

Grains closed mixed on Thursday.

Corn and soybeans forged more new lows for the move on relentless fund selling, but fundamentally it has been tied to weather and report positioning.

DuWayne Bosse, Bolt Marketing, says the trade is leaning too bearish heading into the USDA reports, but corn and soybeans have also experienced selling tied to improved weather and rain in the Eastern Corn Belt.

In addition, there has been farmer selling and pricing of basis fixed contracts ahead of first notice day on Friday for the July contracts.

“I think the trade is trying to price in an additional 2 million acres of corn,” he says.

This is despite average trade guesses only showing an increase of around 300,000 aces of corn and 250,000 acres of soybeans.

Prevent plant and acres now flooded will not show up on this report according to Bosse.

Quarterly stocks also show a potential build in stocks of corn by 770 million bushels, with 166 million bushels of soybeans and 114 million bushels of wheat.

Bosse thinks a lot of bearishness has already been priced in, so if there is a bullish surprise it could create a big, short covering rally.

Wheat was up 12 to 18 cents in the three exchanges on short covering as the market was oversold and due for a correction.

Exports were a little better this morning at 24.5 million bushels and the Stats Canada acreage figure came in 300,000 below estimates, but Bosse doesn’t think that was enough to justify the rally so it was mostly technical.