US farmers could receive payments for losses due to low crop prices and trade disputes

The Trump administration will soon provide detailed information on payments to farmers who suffered losses due to low crop prices and trade disputes, according to The Dairy Site.

American farmers harvested a record crop in 2025, but lost billions of dollars due to reduced soybean sales to China, which began purchasing from South American suppliers in the fall as trade negotiations with the US reached a deadlock.

The Trump administration was expected to announce up to $15 billion in farm aid in October. Earlier, US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stated that the 43-day federal government shutdown had delayed the launch of the aid program.

“There’s no question that the agricultural economy is really struggling right now for a lot of reasons,” Rollins emphasized in an interview with NewsNation last Wednesday, adding that China’s resumption of soybean purchases and other agricultural trade deals had improved the situation.

“We will soon announce possible interim payments to those still suffering losses,” said Brooke Rollins. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Steven Vaden said on Monday, November 17, that the agency is currently gathering data on how recent trade agreements with countries like Pakistan and Japan may impact payments to farmers.

Last week, Bloomberg, citing an interview with Brooke Rollins, reported that details regarding the new payments would be announced in early December. There is no official response yet from the USDA regarding the timing of the payments.

During his first term, Donald Trump paid farmers more than $23 billion in compensation for trade-related losses. Farmers were the primary supporters of Trump in the election.

In an interview with NewsNation, Brooke Rollins stated that the USDA will introduce a number of “structural changes” to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, the week after Thanksgiving.

The minister noted that all recipients of this assistance will be required to reapply for the program. This is to ensure that benefits are paid to eligible recipients, as the department is actively combating fraud within this program.

Under federal law, nearly 42 million Americans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNI) are required to regularly renew their eligibility, typically every six months or year.

During the latest government shutdown, SNI benefits were discontinued for the first time, forcing some recipients to forgo medications in order to buy groceries.

A USDA spokesperson reported that since February 2025, 127 people have been arrested for SNI fraud, 63 have been convicted, and fines and fees totaling more than $16.5 million have been levied. However, the agency did not provide any further details.

Tags: subsidies, soybean, USA