President Donald Trump asked Congress to approve $11 billion in additional funding for farmers, a request that the Agriculture Department said could push total government payments to American agriculture to a record high in 2026.
The USDA earlier this year estimated that direct payments to farmers would total $44 billion for the year, meaning government payments could account for more than a quarter of projected net farm income — a broad measure of farmer profits — before the new request. If Congress approves the $11 billion, total payments could reach $55 billion.
The payments would help farmers cope with effects from the ongoing conflict with Iran, which has increased costs for fuel and fertilizer, as well as persistent low crop prices from a grain glut. Government aid has played an increasingly large role in supporting farm incomes over the past decade, including trade war-related payouts during Trump’s first and second terms, pandemic-era rescue funding, and payments tied to low crop prices.
Scott Metzger, president of the American Soybean Association and an Ohio farmer, said the new aid would provide economic stability ahead of harvest season. “It is no secret that farm country is struggling, and this temporary economic support will go a long way to provide farmers with economic stability as we look forward to the harvest season,” Metzger said.
But some economists and industry analysts questioned whether the stepped-up payments are necessary to maintain U.S. agricultural production. Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, described the reliance on emergency payments as an addiction. “We’ve become really addicted to these ad hoc payments,” Irwin said. “It’s survive and advance.”
Net farm income was estimated at $153.4 billion for 2026 before the latest aid plan, slightly down from 2025 levels but higher than the 20-year average, according to the USDA forecast. The government payments, including those for conservation programs and safety-net payments when market prices fall below certain levels, would likely prop up total farm income.
Irwin said the payments have helped stave off a financial crisis in the farm economy and spurred a run-up in farmland valuations despite difficult market conditions.
Farmers growing corn and soybeans harvested one of the largest crops on record last year and are on pace for another bumper harvest this growing season, according to the USDA. The harvests have created a grain glut that pushed commodity prices and farm income lower. Rice and cotton growers have struggled for years. The cattle business has been a bright spot, with many ranchers earning record sums due to a shortage of cattle on pastures.
Susan Stroud, an agriculture analyst and founder of No Bull Agriculture, said the aid is keeping inefficient farmers in business and encouraging more planting than the market needs. “At some point, low prices have to cure low prices,” Stroud said. “What we’re doing is ultimately encouraging more production.”
Chuck Read, a fifth-generation farmer near Princeton, Illinois, said many farmers do not want government checks but cannot turn them down. Read, 74, said continued government support has encouraged poor savings habits among older farmers who should be saving when commodity prices are high. “I think they’ve hurt us more than they’ve helped us,” Read said. “Even though farm country is pro-Trump still, this is socialism stuff.”
Trump administration officials have said stronger trade and economic policies can help farmers become financially self-sufficient. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden said at The Wall Street Journal’s Global Food Forum in June that expanding biofuels policies could help farmers benefit from productivity gains.