U.S. crop farmers will soon receive huge injection of government cash, and that isn’t sitting well with Canadian growers.
Crop farmers in the United States will soon be receiving a huge injection of government cash, and that isn’t sitting well with Canadian growers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is issuing up to US$10 billion in direct payments to grain farmers through the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program for the 2024 crop year.
“Producers are facing higher costs and market uncertainty, and the Trump administration is ensuring they get the support they need without delay,” U.S. agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said in a press release.
Congress passed the American Relief Act of 2025 in December 2024, which appropriated $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers facing low prices and high input costs.
The direct payments are based on planted acres for eligible commodities for the 2024 crop year.
A few examples of the payment rates are $30.69 per acre for wheat, $31.83 for canola and $21.67 for barley.
Darcy Pawlik, executive director of the Wheat Growers Association, said the payments are nothing new.
“Direct payments are part of the United States’ way of keeping their rural economies whole, making sure they can prop up the farmers that populate those areas,” he said.
However, they put Canadian growers at a competitive disadvantage and make it easier for the U.S. to provoke trade wars.
“It does offer up the ability for the U.S. government to do things like they are with the tariffs,” said Pawlik.
He is referring to the 25 per cent tariff U.S. president Donald Trump plans to apply on a wide variety of Mexican and Canadian goods starting April 2.
Direct payments can help offset any reciprocal tariffs applied on American agricultural products by Mexico, Canada and China.
Trump provided U.S. farmers with $23 billion in direct payments during his first administration to help offset a trade war with China.
“They’ve got these kinds of safeguards already built in, while we’re just struggling to keep up,” said Pawlik.
He has not seen any sign that the Canadian government is going to take steps to offset the tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports being applied by China and the U.S.
“It could decimate the canola industry, and we don’t have anything prepared,” he said.
“We’re really worried, to say the least.”
Canada is fighting trade wars on two fronts, and Pawlik said that should be a wake-up call for Ottawa.
His organization isn’t necessarily lobbying for direct payments, he added, but it would like to see the government start slashing regulations and creating a more robust and reliable transportation system.
“We’ve got to shore up our own backyard here,” said Pawlik.
Canada also needs to do a better job of leveraging existing trade deals with other countries.
“We have all these missed opportunities,” he said.
In the meantime, U.S. farm groups are applauding their government for being responsive to farmers’ needs.
The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) thanked Rollins for delivering the assistance during a turbulent time for farmers.
“The timeliness in the program delivery is crucial as America’s farmers continue to face dire economic challenges,” NAWG chief executive officer Chandler Goule said in a press release.
The American Farm Bureau Federation was also pleased with the economic assistance.
“It will help farmers who are facing low commodity prices while wrestling with inflation, high interest rates and increased supply costs,” federation president Zippy Duvall said in a press release.
“For the third straight year, farmers lost money on almost every major crop planted.”
The federation encouraged the USDA to quickly distribute the remaining aid approved by Congress, which is an additional $20 billion in the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act for producers who suffered weather related losses in 2023 and 2024.
“This emergency assistance is critical in helping farm families navigate an agricultural economy under severe strain, ensuring they can continue to make ends meet until market conditions improve,” said Duvall.
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