Bailouts · agriculture
Farm aid, 1996–2026
On top of the farm bill's regular subsidies, Washington has repeatedly sent farmers emergency checks when prices crashed, trade wars closed markets, or the pandemic hit. Since 2018 that ad hoc aid (emergency, disaster, and trade payments) has totaled $107B through 2025, and USDA expects another $26.5B in 2026, led by the Farmer Bridge Assistance payments. From 2019 to 2025, emergency and trade aid made up 69% of USDA's direct payments to farmers (forgiven PPP loans to farms, which came from the SBA, are left out of that share).
Every year since 1996
Direct government payments to farmers by calendar year: regular farm-bill programs (grey), emergency, disaster, and trade aid (green), and forgiven PPP loans to farms (orange). 2026 is USDA's forecast (lighter).
The farm bailouts
Economic rescues of farmers counted on the bailouts page. Disaster aid for weather losses (about $9B for 2020–22 disasters and up to $21B for 2023–24) is included in the yearly chart above but not listed as a bailout.
Where it went: every state, 2018–2025
USDA emergency, disaster, and trade aid by state (excluding PPP), 2018–2025. The top five states received 33% of the money.
All other states (25)
| Tennessee | $1.29B |
| Idaho | $1.18B |
| Oregon | $1.08B |
| New Mexico | $963M |
| New York | $910M |
| Pennsylvania | $889M |
| Alabama | $889M |
| Virginia | $767M |
| Wyoming | $662M |
| South Carolina | $556M |
| Utah | $535M |
| Arizona | $496M |
| Maryland | $312M |
| Nevada | $203M |
| New Jersey | $183M |
| West Virginia | $161M |
| Hawaii | $144M |
| Vermont | $134M |
| Maine | $115M |
| Delaware | $113M |
| Massachusetts | $108M |
| Connecticut | $64M |
| New Hampshire | $26M |
| Rhode Island | $24M |
| Alaska | $10M |
The two most recent rounds, by state
Emergency Commodity Assistance (2025, grey) and Farmer Bridge Assistance (2026, green), the twelve largest states. Both paid per acre of row crops, so the same Corn Belt and Plains states lead.
What the 2026 bridge payments pay per acre
Farmer Bridge Assistance rates set by USDA on December 31, 2025. Payments are capped at $155,000 per person; people with adjusted gross income over $900,000 are ineligible.
| Crop | Per acre |
|---|---|
| Rice | $132.89 |
| Cotton | $117.35 |
| Oats | $81.75 |
| Peanuts | $55.65 |
| Sorghum | $48.11 |
| Corn | $44.36 |
| Wheat | $39.35 |
| Soybeans | $30.88 |
| Barley | $20.51 |
A separate $1.6B pays specialty-crop growers $25 to $650 an acre by tier. Another $12B of farm aid is in a budget resolution the House adopted 216–214 in July 2026; it had not become law by late September 2026.
Year by year
Show the full table
| Year | USDA payments | Emergency & trade aid | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | $7.3B | $0.0B | 0% |
| 1997 | $7.5B | $0.0B | 0% |
| 1998 | $12.4B | $2.8B | 23% |
| 1999 | $21.5B | $7.8B | 36% |
| 2000 | $23.2B | $8.5B | 37% |
| 2001 | $22.4B | $8.5B | 38% |
| 2002 | $12.4B | $1.7B | 13% |
| 2003 | $16.5B | $3.1B | 19% |
| 2004 | $13.0B | $0.6B | 4% |
| 2005 | $24.4B | $3.2B | 13% |
| 2006 | $15.8B | $0.3B | 2% |
| 2007 | $11.9B | $0.5B | 4% |
| 2008 | $12.2B | $2.1B | 17% |
| 2009 | $12.2B | $0.6B | 5% |
| 2010 | $12.4B | $2.6B | 21% |
| 2011 | $10.4B | $1.3B | 13% |
| 2012 | $10.6B | $1.1B | 10% |
| 2013 | $11.0B | $1.9B | 18% |
| 2014 | $9.8B | $4.7B | 48% |
| 2015 | $10.8B | $1.8B | 17% |
| 2016 | $13.0B | $0.7B | 5% |
| 2017 | $11.5B | $0.7B | 6% |
| 2018 | $13.7B | $6.0B | 44% |
| 2019 | $22.4B | $15.7B | 70% |
| 2020 | $39.7B | $29.3B | 74% |
| 2021 | $17.3B | $10.4B | 60% |
| 2022 | $15.6B | $11.5B | 74% |
| 2023 | $12.3B | $7.2B | 58% |
| 2024 | $10.1B | $5.2B | 51% |
| 2025 | $27.9B | $21.3B | 76% |
| 2026F | $47.4B | $26.5B | 56% |
USDA payments are all direct government payments minus forgiven PPP loans to farms, which the chart above shows separately.