On Monday, December 8th, President Trump and Secretary Rollins announced that the USDA will provide $12 billion in one-time payments to American farmers. This announcement follows several financially tough years for row crop producers, with the goal of providing some support until investments from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) can bring relief to eligible farmers next year. In today’s article, we discuss the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program and upcoming deadlines to apply for assistance. [Read more…] about A Look at the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program: What You Need to Know
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law. The law included changes to the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. In a previous post, we covered what changed for the PLC program. This post explains what has changed for the ARC program and how payments under these programs might be affected. 
With cattle prices reaching record highs, it’s more rewarding than ever to be in the cattle business. It’s also more expensive than ever to raise cattle, with estimated annual production costs of nearly $1,100 per head for cow-calf operators. With these kinds of prices, it’s more important than ever to be diligent when making culling and purchasing decisions. Today, in her first article as a new author for the Ag Economics on the Plains Blog, Merri Beth Day, AgriLife Extension Economist for District 1, reviews some considerations for deciding whether to buy replacement heifers.