Newton • Valjay Rigby bent down, plucked a stalk of hard red winter wheat and rolled it between his fingers as he surveyed the 1,500 acres his family has farmed and ranched for five generations in northern Utah.
Much of the land on his family farm, Rigby Ranch, is planted with alfalfa, wheat, safflower and other small grains. But Rigby said farming has grown increasingly tough as costs climb and supply prices have doubled.
To help the nation’s struggling farmers, President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion federal aid package in December.
Rigby, who also serves as president of the Utah Farm Bureau, expects to receive a portion of the funds. Still, he said Utah producers are unlikely to see much of that relief at a time when expenses remain high and profit margins thin.
“It’s just to help us get by until some of the other programs come in,” Rigby said. “For me personally, it’s going to be enough to cover my fuel bill. So, it’s not a windfall or anything.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Valjay Rigby, in a field where his family farm grows hard red winter wheat, in Newton on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.
The aid comes through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program. Farmers are eligible if they reported their acreage to the agency by Dec. 19.
The agriculture department announced Feb. 20 that enrollment opened Monday and runs through April 17. Producers who applied online could receive payments as early as Feb. 28, the department said.
Payments are calculated per acre and vary by crop, with the highest amounts going to cotton and rice — two crops rarely grown in Utah.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
About $11 billion is earmarked for row crops, while the remaining $1 billion goes to specialty crops not covered by the FBA program.
“We appreciate the help,” Rigby said. “It’s just — there’s some external things that have happened in the last year, or last couple years, that have really just affected the price that we’re able to sell our products for. And we want to produce food for people.”
Corn Belt states collecting the most
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Valjay Rigby, in a field where his family farm grows hard red winter wheat, in Newton on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.
An analysis by the American Farm Bureau shows the biggest payments are headed to Texas, which could see $1.1 billion.
That’s followed by Iowa at $893 million, Kansas at $888 million and Illinois at $832 million.
Overall, Midwest and Corn Belt states are expected to collect $6.9 billion — about 64% of the total — while Southern and Southeast states are projected to receive roughly $2.8 billion, or 26%.
Western states and the Northeast have fewer eligible acres, said Matt Hargreaves, vice president of communications for the state’s farm bureau, so their share of the FBA program is smaller.
In Utah, if every qualifying farmer applied, Hargreaves said the state could see around $9 million in payments.
‘I couldn’t afford to do it’
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Valjay Rigby, on land his family farms, in Newton on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.
Allen Staker runs a 700-acre farm in Emery County, where he grows mostly wheat, corn and barley, with a bit of alfalfa.
He expects to see some relief from the federal bridge payments, he said, but the past few years have been tough. Fertilizer alone last year cost him $100,000, and the price has more than doubled over the past decade.
Staker stays afloat by raising cattle, which provides a more steady income when crop prices and yields aren’t enough to cover expenses.
“If I had to depend on just the crops,” he said, “yeah — I couldn’t afford to do it.”
Rigby said Utah farmers are losing money on their crops because the prices they can get aren’t enough to cover rising costs.
He used to be able to sell alfalfa for around $300 a ton, he said. Now, buyers won’t pay more than $150.
Part of the problem, he said, is that dairies — his main alfalfa customers — can’t afford to pay more, since the price of milk is lower than the cost to produce it.
‘A historic agriculture trade deficit’
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Valjay Rigby in Newton on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.
Mounting financial strain on America’s farmers prompted a bipartisan group of former USDA officials and farm leaders to write a letter to the House and Senate agricultural committees earlier this month, warning that the industry is at a breaking point.
“Farmer bankruptcies have doubled, barely half of all farms will be profitable this year, and the U.S. is running a historic agriculture trade deficit,” the letter read.
“There are few tragedies greater than the loss of a family farm, representing not just a loss of livelihood but a loss of a way of life for rural families,” the letter continued. “And when American farmers suffer, the entire rural economy is impacted — from schools, to churches, to main street businesses.”
A similar message was shared in January, when 56 agriculture groups urged Congress to do more. The bridge assistance is a meaningful step, they said, but it falls short.
Together, they warned the funds “do not cover the extensive and cumulative losses that farmers have absorbed over the last several years.”
“Even after including crop insurance, farm bill programs ... losses for principal crops and specialty crops remain deep,” the letter reads.
Spencer Gibbons, CEO of the Utah Farm Bureau, said he expects farmers will see more meaningful relief later this year, but he worries about those who can’t wait that long.
Staker, in southeastern Utah, said many operations are already stretched thin.
“We need somebody to understand that if we’re going to produce food for this nation,” he said, “we’ve got to be able to afford to do it.”
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