Iowa 4th District U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra is reminding Iowa farmers to finalize their 2025 acreage reports by the end of the week to ensure their eligibility for farm relief payments from the federal government. Earlier this month, President Trump announced a $12 billion package to offset at least some of the financial strain placed on producers related to ongoing trade disputes and retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. Of the $12 billion, $11 billion has been set aside for the most common agricultural products, primarily corn and soybeans for Iowa. The remaining $1 billion is reserved for commodities not explicitly included in the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, mostly specialty crops and sugar. For producers to receive relief payments, they must submit the acreage reports by 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19. Feenstra says, “I’m grateful to President Trump for delivering critical relief to our Iowa producers. This support will help farmers bridge the gap between disastrous Biden policies that resulted in record-high input prices and zero new trade deals while President Trump continues to secure new market access for Iowa agriculture.” Feenstra urges farmers to submit their reports to the nearest USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) before the deadline to avoid potential delays. Relief payments are expected to begin rolling out soon after the deadline, and all qualifying payments should be distributed by Feb. 28, 2026. The USDA will announce commodity-specific payment rates by the end of the month.
