US to Resume Farmer Aid Halted by Shutdown
Export Markets for Many Crops Have Dissipated and Federal Safety Net Programs Have Shrunk
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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said President Donald Trump’s administration will resume distributing $3 billion in aid from the Farm Service Agency that had been halted as a result of the three-week-long government shutdown.
“President Trump will not let the radical left Democrat shutdown impact critical USDA services while harvest is underway across the country,” Rollinssaidin a social media post Oct. 21. “Thursday, USDA will resume Farm Service Agency core operations, including critical services for farm loan processing.”
Rollins also said that agriculture risk coverage and price loss coverage payments — financial guarantees for farmers to protect against fluctuations in crop prices — and other programs would resume operating.
The move to resume some activities at USDA demonstrates the flexibility the White House has over which government functions continue running during a shutdown to achieve their political goals.
President Trump will not let the radical left Democrat shutdown impact critical USDA services while harvest is underway across the country. Thursday, USDA will resume Farm Service Agency core operations, including critical services for farm loan processing, ARC/PLC payments, and… — Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins)
Trump has sought to exact maximum pressure on Democrats during the impasse,halting fundsfor projects in states that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, while resuming farm aid and continuing toprocess economic dataimportant for calculating the increase for elderly Americans’ Social Security benefits.
The Agriculture secretary told Fox Business that $3 billion would be distributed to farmers, adding that the administration would soon announce an additional aid plan to address “China compromising our soybean farmers’ access.”
Trump allies have for weeks teased an aid program as a way to provide temporary assistance for farmers rattled by price fluctuations and a Chinese blockade of U.S. soybeans until market conditions improve. Rollins signaled that a package won’t be announced as long as the government funding lapse, now in its 21st day, continues.
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Despite a temporary U.S.-China trade truce, Beijing has turned to other exporters, including Brazil and Argentina for the crop. Trump has said the move is a negotiating tactic by China, the world’s largest importer of soybeans, to gain leverage in broader trade talks.
Farming communities, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in the 2024 election, have seen export markets for many crops dissipate and federal safety net programs shrink during the president’s second term. The administration had said previously that it was working on providing assistance to farmers, with Trump floating the use ofrevenue from his tariffson foreign imports to fund that plan.
