(GPB News) – Federal support from the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program will help farmers in the short-term. But what will help them in the long term? GPB’s Orlando Montoya reports as Georgia farmers and agriculture officials weigh in.
Federal agriculture officials have announced how much farmers will get in one-time economic aid for financial losses in the 2025 crop year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a list of payment amounts last week.
The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program is aimed at shoring up American farms until more long-term support kicks in from the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act later this year.
Ben Boyd grows peanuts and cotton, among other crops, in eastern Georgia’s Screven County.
He said he’s grateful for the support but it’s only “a Band-Aid.”
“This doesn’t fix our problem,” Boyd said. “Our problem is input prices. And until we get these input prices — everything we buy — back in check, we’re going to really struggle.”
Boyd said he’ll likely plant fewer peanuts this year because the price he’s getting for them dropped significantly in 2025.
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said he’s been working closely with the Trump administration and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to ensure robust investments in agriculture at the federal level.
Millions of dollars in federal money have helped supplement agricultural losses in Georgia from natural disasters in 2024 and 2025, with many farmers in Georgia still recovering.
“Input costs are up, commodity prices are significantly suppressed, and so there’s a lot going on in agriculture,” Harper said at a recent press event. “It’s made it difficult for our farm families to get across the finish line.”
He hopes farmers can be patient for the programs coming down the pike with the big budget bill — including expansions to crop insurance benefits, with some premium assistance available to new and beginner farmers specifically.
“The bridge program is helping us get across the finish line to help farmers get to a point where they can get to see the benefits of the changes that have been made, to allow them to continue to be successful,” Harper said.
One policy already in action is a recent rule change that depresses wages across states for foreign-born farm workers hired under the largely popular H-2A visa program, a move Harper supports.
Many farmers say participating in the program costs them too much money, while farm worker advocates argue that H-2A workers are already vulnerable to abuse.
In the meantime, Alex Bradford, director of public policy at the Georgia Farm Bureau, said more action is needed.
“While these bridge payments are helpful and appreciated, they are what the name reflects — a bridge,” Bradford said. “The agriculture economy, especially from the producer’s vantage, is a larger issue that we must remain focused on addressing longer term.”
The bridge payments break down as follows, per commodity, per acre:
- Barley: $20.51
- Canola: $23.57
- Chickpeas (Large): $26.46
- Chickpeas (Small): $33.36
- Corn: $44.36
- Cotton: $117.35
- Flax: $8.05
- Lentils: $23.98
- Mustard: $23.21
- Oats: $81.75
- Peanuts: $55.65
- Peas: $19.60
- Rice: $132.89
- Safflower: $24.86
- Sesame: $13.68
- Sorghum: $48.11
- Soybeans: $30.88
- Sunflower: $17.32
- Wheat: $39.35
Funds from the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program are expected arrive in farmers’ bank accounts by the end of February.
GPB’s Sofi Gratis contributed to this report.
