Sponsors (7)
Official title: To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to make direct payments to certain specialty crop growers or wine producers who experience certain losses due to increased tariff burdens, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 5, 2025 by Michael Thompson · Last progress December 5, 2025
The bill provides targeted financial relief to specialty crop and wine producers and adds food to nutrition programs, but does so through open-ended federal spending that risks market distortions and distributional disputes.
Specialty crop growers and wine producers receive direct payments to cover losses (including higher labor/handling costs and lost export revenue), giving them short-term financial relief.
Low-income individuals and schools receive more food because USDA can buy surplus specialty crops for distribution to school meal programs and SNAP, increasing food assistance availability.
Taxpayers and Congress gain more information through required annual, crop- and region-specific reports on payments and surplus purchases through 2030, improving program transparency and oversight.
All taxpayers face higher federal spending due to open-ended 'such sums as necessary' appropriations for FY2026–2030, which could raise the deficit or crowd out other priorities.
Farmers and small agribusinesses may see market distortions if USDA purchases of surplus are large or prolonged, potentially depressing prices and harming some producers.
Certain specialty crops or regions could be favored by the program design, creating distributional disputes and perceived unfairness among growers and rural communities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires USDA to create a tariff-relief direct-payment program for specialty crop growers and wine producers and authorizes surplus crop purchases for nutrition programs, funded FY2026–2030.
Creates a program at the Department of Agriculture to pay specialty crop growers and wine producers for losses tied to tariffs imposed on or after January 20, 2025, and authorizes USDA to buy certain surplus crops (not wine grapes) for distribution to federal nutrition programs. The bill directs the Secretary to set up the direct-payment program within 180 days, requires annual reports to Congress through 2030, and authorizes "such sums as are necessary" for FY2026–2030 with up to 1% for administration.