The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide $8 billion in diesel fuel relief to American farmers for this year’s harvest season, to be distributed as one-time payments to eligible candidates.
“This $8 billion investment will help bring certainty to our farmers during this harvest so they can continue to feed our nation,” Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a news release. “President Trump is the most pro-farmer president of my lifetime, and he is continuing to put Farmers First every day,” Rollins remarked.
U.S. diesel prices remain above $6 per gallon, and they have even climbed from last week, from $6.2665 per gallon last Monday to $6.3187 per gallon yesterday. That’s despite President Trump’s recent deal with President Putin for the export of about 2.2 million barrels of diesel this month to the United States and other countries to alleviate pain at the pump as diesel prices run at all-time highs. That initial 2.2 million barrels will be followed by 3.7 million barrels in November and 7.5 million barrels shortly thereafter.
Before that deal, Trump also lifted the federal tax on red-dye diesel, which is the kind used by farmers, in order to bring down retail diesel prices for all drivers. The tax deferral has not made much of a difference, and has theoretically stimulated demand for “farmer diesel” from other drivers. Federal diesel tax stands at $0.244 per gallon, or some $60 on a 250-gallon fill, according to the White House.
This latest move, which the Department of Agriculture has dubbed the Harvest Fuel Relief program, will be used to “cover a portion of modeled losses during the 2026 crop year,” the department said in its news release about the program. To get the one-time payment, farmers are encouraged to submit reports of their fuel costs to the department for consideration under the fuel relief program.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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