New USDA Aid for Farmers
A New Regenerative Pilot Program worth about $700 million dollars to farmers will start in 2026. The goal is to help farmers with regenerative farm practices that improve soil health, enhance water quality, increase food nutrition, and help farmers remain profitable long-term.
Brooke Rollins, US Secretary of Agriculture says, “Protecting and improving soil health is critical for long-term farmland success … We must protect our topsoil from unnecessary erosion and improve soil health and land stewardship. USDA is supporting farmers who choose to transition to regenerative agriculture.”
Details of the program are just starting to be released. The Natural Resources Conservation Service will administer the program starting in 2026 with an initial focus on whole-farm planning for soil, water and natural vitality under a single conservation framework. Around $400 million will come from EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentive Program) and $300 million from CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program). Farmers can bundle multiple regenerative practice with one application. The application includes beginning farmers and experienced farmers.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS), Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced that DHHS is researching the connection between regenerative agriculture and public health. They are investigating soil health and land stewardship and how they can make soil healthy again with less chemicals and how that leads to healthy nutrient rich food for the general public.
The biggest relief to farmers will come for up to $12 billion dollars for a new farm trade aid package, up to $155,000 per recipient in February 2026. The farm trade aid package is compensation for farmers struggling to sell crops during the China trade negotiations that disrupted and suppressed farm markets, especially soybeans. This will be a one time, per acre payment which will come from tariff revenues. About $11 billion is for row crop farmers with another $1 billion for specialty crops.
Farmers have received almost $40 billion dollars this year in government payments, mainly for disaster and economic aid. While that may sound like a lot of money, most farmers are barely making ends meet, especially grain farmers. High input prices for chemicals and fertilizer, sky high equipment costs from the pandemic, much higher interest rates, and very low grain prices are driving farmers out of business.
A local Allen county farmer with several hundred acres shared that he only made money on his wheat simply because he forward priced it two years ago at a relatively good price. He broke even on all his soybean acres this year and lost $5,000 on all the corn he produced. He farms part-time and has to rely on his other off-farm job to support his family.
Farmers would rather have good trade programs and be able to farm without subsidies, but the reality is that farming is dependent upon the government to remain profitable. Many banking institutions are indicating that they may be able to loan money to only about 50% of the farmers who need money this year. Farm bankruptcies are increasing and there appears to be many more farm land sales and auctions. Farm aid does not solve any long-term problems with market and trade disruptions. It is really only a band aid which is short-term help.
Taking federal payments has become critical for many farmers to survive. The common saying is that “Farmers buy retail, sell wholesale, and pay the freight both ways. Farmers are price takers, not price makers.” So, when input prices rise and market prices for crops are so low; it is hard to be profitable. Most farmers receive federal dollars come just in time for them to be paid out immediately for the next crop.
Some people might ask why the price of farmland is so high yet? Basically, because they do not make any more of it, so it is a scarce resource. Millions of acres of land gets developed every year. Also, farmland is a good investment because it holds it value. Many doctors, lawyers, wealthy business men continue to buy farmland and hold it as an investment, so that keeps the price high. Farmers who own farmland have a valuable asset that keeps them in business. If the price of farmland were to drop like it did in the 1980’s, many farmers and bankers who rely on that asset to fund their operations would go out of business. Most people in the USA like food security. Most of use do not go hungry because farming has been a stable and reliable industry. Let’s hope it stays that way.