STORY: U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled a $12 billion aid package for American farmers, in an effort to shore up a key political constituency hurt by his trade policies.
Farm groups and Republican farm-state lawmakers have sought the aid in part to support farmers with purchases of seeds, fertilizer and other expenses for next year's growing season.
"The United States will be taking a small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs. We are making a lot of money from countries that took advantage of us for years... so what we're doing is we're taking a relatively small portion of that, and we're going to be giving and providing it to the farmers in economic assistance. And we love our farmers, and as you know, the farmers like me, because based on, based on voting trends, you could call it voting trends or anything else, but they're great people. They're the backbone of our country."
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that $11 billion of the aid will go to row crop farms - that's things like corn and soybeans - and will be disbursed by February 28.
The administration is holding back the remaining $1 billion for fruits, vegetables and other crops to finalize the details.
Rollins says the money will come from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a discretionary agriculture department fund.
An official said payments would be based on acres planted, production costs, and other factors.
Trump gave $23 billion to farmers in his first term, and this year they're set to get nearly $40 billion in government aid.
Even so, net farm income could fall by more than $30 billion in 2026 due to a dip in government payments and low crop prices, according to experts at the University of Missouri.
