US President Donald Trump has announced that his administration will release $8 billion in emergency aid for American farmers.

The major initiative, to be led by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), was announced by President Trump during an election rally in Park City, Kansas, a rural Midwestern state known for its major role in American agriculture.

The emergency plan, named Harvest Fuel Relief (HFR), comes amid a difficult economic context marked by a historic surge in diesel prices, which nearly reached $6.50 per gallon (3.8 liters) in September and remain historically high.

While the program will not directly lower prices at the pump, it will offset the surge in production costs through specific mechanisms.

The funds will be paid in a single installment to producers through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in order to immediately ease their cash flow. Financial assistance will be calculated on the basis of estimated losses for the 2026 agricultural season.

The USDA will rely on data on cultivated areas, production costs and yield projections.

The announcement comes within a tight strategic timetable, just before the midterm elections scheduled for November 3, which are crucial for control of the US Congress. Under pressure from Republican elected officials from agricultural states, the US administration has multiplied financial measures for this key electoral base.

The Harvest Fuel Relief program adds to a series of massive aid packages already granted to farmers during 2026, notably the Farmer Bridge Assistance program, which provides for direct financial assistance to more than 560,000 farmers, as well as a program covering agricultural risks and price losses.

In parallel, the administration recently signed an executive order temporarily allowing farmers to use red diesel (normally tax-exempt and reserved for agricultural machinery) in their regular road vehicles in order to ease budgetary pressure on rural households.