Trump Administration Unveils $12 Billion Relief Plan for Farmers: How Will Illinois Fare?

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ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Illinois farmers have been among the hardest hit by President Donald Trump’s trade disputes.

As the leading producer of soybeans, Illinois has faced significant challenges as tariffs have effectively shut out China, their largest market, for much of the year.

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“The timing couldn’t be more critical, especially with rising input costs and production levels that haven’t quite met expectations,” commented Jeff Kirwin from the Illinois Farm Bureau.

In response to the growing concerns, the Trump Administration on Monday revealed a much-anticipated plan to address the distress signals sent by farmers.

It will offer $11 billion in direct bridge payments to farmers who produce barley, chickpeas, corn, cotton, lentils, oats, peanuts, peas, rice, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, canola, flax, mustard, rapeseed, safflower, sesame and sunflowers. The other $1 billion will go to farmers of specialty crops, such as sugarcane.

Champaign County farmer Steve Hettinger said it couldn’t come soon enough.

“Farmers don’t really want the buyout. We’d rather have the free trade. But it is a must for most farmers to get to that next season. So it’s welcomed definitely,” said Hettinger.

One problem Hettinger sees, however, is that the one-time payments will only help ease farmers’ pain temporarily. It doesn’t reopen markets that have shut their doors due to high tariffs.

“The real long-term problem is the free trade. And we’re in hopes that the tariffs are a way to get some relief and get to free trade eventually. But in the meantime, we’ve got to have a bridge program like this one to get to the next crop year,” said Hettinger.

Jeff Kirwan with the Illinois Farm Bureau said he is hopeful the aid package will put farmers back in the black. He said the next issue the administration should focus on is finding a way to tackle the rising input prices that keep putting farmers behind.

“I think we maybe are turning the corner to at least getting to somewhere profitable, but our input costs are going up as well. Significantly. So it’s kind of like we really need everything that we can get,” said Kirwan.

While this program was just announced on Monday, it has been in the works for a while.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told the USDA to begin setting up a direct payment system for farmers back in February. They expect all of the payments to be completed by the end of February 2026.

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Trump Administration Unveils $12 Billion Relief Plan for Farmers: How Will Illinois Fare?

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