The Trump administration plans to release more than $3 billion in aid to U.S. farmers after funds were frozen during the government shutdown. President Trump directed the Agriculture Department to distribute the money through the Commodity Credit Corporation, a Depression-era fund established to stabilize farm income and authorized to borrow billions from the Treasury.
Due to furloughs and shuttered USDA offices, farmers have been unable to access safety-net programs as they harvest one of the largest corn and soybean crops on record. The USDA will resume Farm Service Agency operations on Thursday, reopening offices that have been closed for three weeks.
“President Trump will not let the radical left Democrat shutdown impact critical USDA services while harvest is underway across the country,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote on X.
Officials said the administration is also weighing a separate $10 billion relief package, though that plan remains on hold during the shutdown. For now, reopened county offices will operate with limited staff funded by carry-over balances and administrative reserves.
Trump also plans to press Chinese leader Xi Jinping to increase U.S. soybean purchases when the two meet next week on the sidelines of a summit in South Korea.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
