Corn Growers Comment on Bridge Assistance Rates

USDA released further details today on the commodity-by-commodity national payment rates for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, allocating $44.36 per corn acre to growers across the country. By comparison, under the previous Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, as authorized by Congress, corn had a payment rate of $42.91 per acre. Farmers who qualify for the bridge assistance can expect payments to be made by the end of February 2026.

In response to this development, National Corn Growers Association President Jed Bower released the following statement:

"We are appreciative of Secretary Rollins and the USDA for creating the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, which begins to assist growers facing economic pain and hardships.

"Corn growers have been sounding the alarm about the fact that farmers have been faced with multiple consecutive years of low corn prices and high input costs.

"While this financial assistance is helpful and welcomed, we urgently need the administration and Congress to develop markets in the United States and abroad that will provide growers with more long-term economic certainty."

NCGA will continue working with USDA as the Farm Service Agency begins the implementation stage of the new Farmer Bridge Assistance Program to ensure the assistance is timely and effective for producers.