By Jason Smith, Member of Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. – For four years under Joe Biden, rural America was treated as an afterthought, even as farmers battled a cost-of-living crisis that led to soaring input costs, falling commodity prices, shrinking export markets, and interest rates that squeezed family operations year after year. In southeast Missouri—where agriculture is the backbone of our economy and a way of life for countless families—those pressures created real strain for many producers who were already dealing with challenging conditions. Thankfully, after four years of being ignored, farm families across southeast Missouri finally have a champion in the White House again.
This week, President Donald Trump and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a lifeline for some of our farmers who have been struggling the most: a $12 billion aid package to provide one-time bridge payments at a moment when row crop producers desperately need stability heading into next year’s planting season. As many family farms are weighing difficult decisions about the future, this support will help them get through a challenging season and plan with a little more certainty.
But make no mistake: the challenges facing agriculture run deeper than any single relief package can solve. Low crop prices continue to hammer profit margins in the Delta, and the costs of diesel, fertilizer, seed, and equipment remain far above where they stood before Biden-era inflation took hold. These pressures are felt every single day by family farms already operating on tight margins, forcing producers to make difficult choices about how much they can plant, what they can invest in, and how they can keep their operations moving forward. Their resilience is remarkable, but they shouldn’t have to face these challenges alone.
That is why the agriculture investments included in the Working Families Tax Cuts are so significant. At a time when farmers are being squeezed from every direction, this bill provided the largest investment in American agriculture in a generation: $56 billion for Title I farm programs, $6 billion for crop insurance, and a doubling of funding for the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development. Importantly, it also included the first meaningful investment to reference prices for major commodities in over 20 years, which is why this bridge program is necessary to get farmers through this last season before those guarantees kick in. These investments are essential for rebuilding the export markets that our farmers rely on and restoring a true agricultural trade surplus under President Trump’s leadership.
These measures matter because behind every dollar is a family trying to keep a farm afloat. Farmers are the backbone of rural America and the foundation of our nation’s food supply. They rise before sunrise, work long after sunset, and take enormous risks each year so the rest of the nation never has to wonder where its food comes from. They deserve a government that has their back, and with President Trump in the White House, that finally feels true again.
As these provisions take effect, I will continue fighting to ensure our producers have access to the resources, markets, and certainty they need to thrive for generations to come. President Trump’s aid package provides much-needed relief in this moment. The agriculture investments in the Working Families Tax Cuts strengthen the future, and together, they signal something rural America has not felt in a long time: real hope, backed by real action.