The US administration’s US$8 billion in diesel aid for farmers will be paid out after the November 3 election, a USDA official told Reuters on October 23. President Donald Trump announced the aid earlier in the week as part of a set of measures to ease high fuel prices caused by the war in Iran. Richard Fordyce, a USDA official, said the exact timing has not been decided, but payments are likely to come close to the end of the year.
Farmers have been hit hard this season by record diesel prices. The USDA’s Economic Research Service projects that they will spend nearly US$5 billion more on fuel than last year. Payments will be calculated using USDA models of average fuel use, and the money will come from the Commodity Credit Corporation, the same fund that paid US$12 billion in tariff relief to farmers earlier this year. With the diesel aid, government payments to US farmers this year would reach a record US$55.4 billion.
Producers of soybeans, corn and rice will receive payments based on USDA models of average fuel spending, according to Fordyce. The agency is currently collecting fuel cost data from other types of producers. It is not yet clear how specialty crops like nuts and dried fruits will be treated.