OMAHA (DTN) -- President Donald Trump will announce a $12 billion aid package to farmers on Monday afternoon to help crop farmers deal with another year of financial losses partially driven by the president's trade war.

Bloomberg first reported the aid package announcement on Sunday, which was followed by reports from the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets.

The aid package has been expected for months, though details were held up by the government shutdown.

According to initial reports, the lion's share of aid, or $11 billion, will go to crop farmers under the "Farmer Bridge Assistance Program," Bloomberg reported.

Trump will reportedly hold a roundtable discussion with farmers at the White House as he announces the aid program.

No details have been released about exactly how USDA will formulate payments to producers.

Soybean farmers have drawn a great deal of attention when it comes to aid payments because of the lost export sales to China. Still, as the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) highlighted last month, several crops are facing billions in economic losses for their 2025-26 seasons. Under the AFBF analysis, corn producers are facing $15.1 billion in losses, while soybean farmers are facing $6.7 billion in losses. Wheat farmers are also facing nearly $5.9 billion in losses, while cotton producers are $3.4 billion in the red. Sorghum and rice farmers also reflect over $1 billion in losses.

Essentially, input costs have been above crop revenue for the past four crop years. This year, crop revenue is projected at $144 billion while costs of production are pegged at $179 billion.

The numbers reflect that the "bridge payments" will help, but crop producers will still see negative returns even once the $11 billion in payments are provided.

BESSENT ON CHINA

In a wide-ranging interview on CBS' "Face the Nation," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent touched on the aid payments and trade with China. After stressing China would buy 12 million metric tons (mmt) of soybeans by the end of the year, Bessent has now backed off that forecast and pushed it back to at least February.

"Well, they're not going to speed purchasing up. They're in the cadence that we agreed to. Soybean prices are up about 12% or 15% since the agreement with the Chinese. They are going to buy 12.5 million metric tons," Bessent said.

Bessent was asked why farmers would still need aid payments. "Because these prices haven't come in, because the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations," he said. "And we are going to create this bridge because, again, agriculture is all about the future. You've got to start financing for planning next year when things will be very good."

Bessent also said he had divested from his crop farm operation in North Dakota. Bessent had been warned nearly eight months ago that he needed to divest from the farm assets to avoid conflicts of interest. Bessent has frequently referred to himself as a "soybean farmer."

He said on CBS, "I actually just divested it this week as part of my ethics agreement, so I'm out of that business."

Bessent added, "But I probably know more than any Treasury Secretary about agriculture since the 1800s and I can tell you that what farmers need is certainty, and we have put that in place with this trade deal. Twelve and a half million metric tons this year, 25 million metric tons for the next three years, for soybeans, also sorghum -- and lumber."

The New York Times reported Bessent had listed he owned as much as $25 million in farmland in North Dakota, which included thousands of acres in Burleigh, Kidder, Eddy, Benson and Wells counties in the state. Bessent's husband has been listed as managing partner on an LLC called High Plains Acres.

DTN Political Correspondent Jerry Hagstrom contributed to this report.

See AFBF report: https://www.fb.org/….

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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