Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman wants to redirect $11 billion sitting in a rescission bill into direct aid payments for farmers, arguing that diesel and fertilizer costs continue to erode harvest-season margins across the country.

"We've got $11 billion in the rescission bill, that's probably not going to go anywhere soon, so I talked about getting those dollars shifted over," the Arkansas Republican said in an interview with Chip Flory on AgriTalk.

"This is high-stakes stuff. This is all about keeping families in business that have been in business for generations," Boozman said.

Politico reports that Republicans want to bundle roughly $11 billion in direct farm aid with a forthcoming spending package. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said the aid would "ride along pretty easily if we get that money for the military."

Boozman said President Trump supports additional payments and will press Congress to approve them. "He can't announce how much since it hasn't passed, but he's very much in favor of us doing and has agreed to help us," Boozman explained. "In fact, he'll lead the charge with Congress to get the thing passed."

Rescissions apply only to discretionary spending — foreign aid, agency operations, public media — and cannot touch mandatory programs such as Social Security, which constrains how the $11 billion could be redeployed.

Third Round Under This Administration

The proposed payments would build on two earlier rounds. The American Relief Act delivered $9.8 billion in market relief payments for 20 covered crops in 2025. In December 2025, USDA launched the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program with up to $11 billion for row crop farmers.

"The plan we are announcing today ensures American farmers can continue to plan for the next crop year. It is imperative we do what it takes to help our farmers, because if we cannot feed ourselves, we will no longer have a country," Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said when that program was announced.

Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Richard Fordyce told the Red River Farm Network in April that more than $10 billion had been obligated across over 540,000 applications under the Bridge program.

Farm Bill Headed to Conference

The farm bill has cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee after weeks of negotiations that stalled over the SNAP payment error rate debate. Boozman said lawmakers are negotiating with House counterparts and Democrats in both chambers to finalize a bill for the post-election lame duck session.

"We're working with our House counterparts now and also working with the Democrats in the House and the Senate trying to get together and have a final bill that we can pass as soon as we get back once the election is over," Boozman said.

Several contested items will be settled in conference. The Save Our Bacon Act is already in the House bill. A fix for California's Proposition 12 remains on the conference table. Language on nationwide, year-round E15 availability — currently in the Senate bill and a standalone House measure — could be merged into the final text. Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling also faces conference negotiation, with Boozman citing building momentum for its inclusion.

Boozman credited sustained pressure from farm groups for keeping the legislation moving and described the bill as transcending party lines, focused strictly on supporting producers. He called delivery of a finalized package before year-end a realistic goal.