President Donald Trump announced $8 billion in relief this harvest season for farmers facing record-high diesel prices, during a rally in Kansas to support vulnerable incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.
“Roger got it to happen. Good job, Roger,” Trump said. “And when the Republicans win, we will pass even more funding for our farmers. We love our farmers.”
The Agriculture Department said the Farm Service Agency will administer one-time payments to farmers under its new Harvest Fuel Relief program and in November will announce rates for dairy, sugar and other commodities including major grain, oilseed and pulse crops.
The USDA did not announce when farmers can apply or when payments will go out.
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“President Trump hears our farmers — and he is taking action,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on X, highlighting several other recent moves the administration is undertaking to help farmers, including new fertilizer facilities and trade deals.
The relief comes as Republicans grow increasingly concerned about losing midterm races in deep-red states with rural voters, including Kansas and Nebraska. The announcement is also the second attempt this month to aid farmers facing high diesel prices, with Trump announcing expanded access to red-dyed diesel and a review of certain federal taxes.
Diesel fuel prices have reached record high prices largely because of the ongoing war with Iran. The increase has upset farmers and created competitive races in areas where Trump won by double digits just two years ago.
Marshall is in a tight race with Democrat Adam Hamilton in a state that hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1932. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win control of the Senate.
Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a statement that farmers and ranchers welcomed the announcement. “We appreciate President Trump and Secretary Rollins recognizing that higher diesel prices have squeezed farmers’ bottom lines,” Duvall said.
Other farm groups weren’t as quick to praise the administration, with some blaming it for diesel prices reaching this point in the first place.
“Farmers never should have been put in this position. A Band-Aid response now, 2 weeks before the election, doesn’t fix the problem,” Iowa Farmers Union President Aaron Lehman said in a statement.
Lehman said the harvest is already well underway, and farmers have already borne the brunt of high diesel prices, even if they end up getting money back.
“Farmers have been dumping expensive diesel fuel in their combines and tractors for weeks,” Lehman told The Washington Sun. “Farmers have been put in a situation because of bad policy decisions.”
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