USDA announces FBA per-acre payment rates
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released details on eligible commodity per-acre payment rates, the next phase of the USDA Farm Service Agency’s Farmer Bridge Assistance Program (FBA).
The FBA was announced in early December 2025 to provide a bridge until the benefits of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) are available and promises a payout of $12 billion to American farmers in 2026.
According to a Dec. 31, 2025 press release, USDA will disperse $11 billion in one-time FBA program payments to eligible farmers by the end of February 2026, with the remaining $1 billion to be distributed for specialty crop assistance at a later date.
FBA eligibility
According to USDA, FBA payments are based on 2025 planted acres, Economic Research Service cost of production and the World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimate Report.
The department notes double crop acres – including all initial and subsequently planted crops – are eligible for FBA payments, in addition to most row crops.
Prevent plant acres are excluded from FBA assistance, as well as row crops planted for grazing, volunteer stands, experimental, green manure, crops left standing and abandoned or cover crops.
USDA emphasizes crop insurance linkage is not required for FBA eligibility, but the department “strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new risk management tools provided for in the OBBBA to best protect against future price risk and volatility.”
Farmers who qualify for assistance will receive pre-filled program applications, and payments are promised to hit in time to start planning for the upcoming planting season.
The payments are intended to provide relief to producers who have been struggling in the face of “disastrous Biden administration policies which created record-high input and production costs, zero new trade deals and a forgotten rural America,” according to the press release.
Payment rates
Eligible row crop commodities and per-acre payment rates have been outlined across 19 categories, and USDA says farmers can expect payments in their bank accounts by Feb. 28.
Topping the list are rice and cotton with per-acre payment rates of $132.89 and $117.35, respectively, followed by oats at $81.75.
Eligible peanut farmers will receive $55.65 per acre, while corn and sorghum will bring $44.36 and $48.11 per acre, respectively.
Soybean producers will receive $30.88 per acre and wheat will bring $39.35 per acre.
Additional per-acre payment rates include lentils at $23.98, safflower at $24.86, barley at $20.51, canola at $23.57 and mustard at $23.21.
Also, large chickpeas will be worth $26.46 per acre and small chickpeas will bring $33.36 per acre.
Finally, peas will bring $19.60 per acre, sunflower $17.32 per acre, sesame $13.68 per acre and flax $8.05 per acre.
“These one-time payments give farmers the bridge to continue to feed and clothe America and the world while the Trump administration continues opening new markets and strengthening the farm safety net,” states U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.
“USDA is making this process as simple and seamless as possible so producers can focus on what they do best – feeding and fueling our nation,” Rollins continues.
Grace Skavdahl is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
