GOP Pushing Farm Assistance and Rural Mainstreet Index Down
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**GOP lawmakers are pushing to attach roughly $11 billion in direct farm assistance to a defense spending package, but payments likely would not arrive until next spring, according to Politico.
Lawmakers say delays could lead to more farm closures.
Meanwhile, The Hagstrom Report said Senate Ag Chair John
Boozman still expects Congress to approve additional aid and is working with the White House and Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins to find a legislative vehicle.
**The USDA is expanding its Regenerative Pilot Program, adding roughly $700 million to $1 billion in financial assistance for fiscal year 2027.
Applications will open for farmers and ranchers interested in adopting regenerative conservation practices.
USDA says the additional funding will help more producers improve soil health, water quality, and long-term farm resilience.
The program will provide $650 million through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and $350 million through the Conservation Stewardship Program.
**Rural bankers are growing more concerned about the farm economy as higher fuel and fertilizer costs weigh on producers.
Creighton University’s September Rural Mainstreet Index fell to 44.7, down from 50.3 in August.
Readings below 50 indicate economic contraction.
Creighton regional economist, Ernie Goss says pessimism over higher input costs outweighed optimism about improving grain prices.
Bankers identified fertilizer and fuel as the biggest financial pressures facing agricultural customers.
