After months of strained economic conditions for farmers, the Trump administration in December announced a $12 billion aid package as a way to help. Details of that aid have begun to roll out.
For wheat, Montana’s chief agricultural product, farmers will get about $40 per acre they grew in 2025. But each operation can only receive up to $155,000. Agriculture leaders in the state are lukewarm about the news.
"It wouldn’t help us retire all of the operating debt that we’re working with still coming off of last year, but it certainly puts a dent in it," Montana Farm Bureau Federation President Cyndi Johnson says.
Payments ranged widely depending on the commodity, with crops like rice and cotton receiving over $100 per acre. Johnson says those are more expensive to produce than wheat.
Montana Farmer’s Union President Walter Schweitzer says the aid is a good start for farmers still grappling with high operating costs and low prices.
"Whether or not it will appease the bankers when farmers are going in to get their loans renewed, time will tell," Schweitzer says.
Farm aid payments should be distributed by the end of February.
