USDA Announces $8 Billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program
USDA announces $8 billion in harvest relief payments for farmers. Learn about eligibility, payment rates, and application preparations.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will make $8 billion available in one-time payments to American farmers through a new Harvest Fuel Relief (HFR) program intended to provide support during temporary market disruptions and increased input costs.
President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the program October 19, 2026. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) will administer the payments, which are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act.
How the Harvest Fuel Relief Program Works
Similar to the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, the Harvest Fuel Relief program will provide proportional support to producers using a uniform formula to cover a portion of modeled losses during the 2026 crop year.
The national loss average will be based on:
- FSA-reported planted acres
- Economic Research Service cost-of-production estimates
- World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates yields and prices
Commodity-specific payment rates for Title I commodities are expected to be released in November. USDA will announce the payment methodology for other eligible commodities at a later date.
Crop insurance is not required to participate in the Harvest Fuel Relief program. However, USDA encourages producers to use the enhanced risk management tools included in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act to help protect against future price risk and volatility.
What Farmers Need to Know
Eligible producers are encouraged to create a Login.gov account before USDA announces the application period. Producers who link their Login.gov accounts to USDA will be able to access pre-filled applications online.
Producers of non-Title I commodities, including specialty crop growers and fishermen, can submit data on increased fuel costs to HarvestFuel@usda.gov. USDA will consider the information when determining payment rates.
Other Federal Farm Assistance
The Harvest Fuel Relief program follows other federal assistance initiatives for agricultural producers.
Earlier in 2026, the Farmer Bridge Assistance program provided $12 billion in one-time bridge payments to more than 560,000 farmers nationwide.
USDA also reported nearly $14 billion in gross payments to producers through the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs two weeks before the Harvest Fuel Relief announcement. Those payments were made through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and represented an approximate $8 billion increase over what farmers would have received without the legislation.
For additional information, visit the USDA Farmers First webpage.
