ISA director meets with USDA chief

SAN ANTONIO — Illinois Soybean Association District 6 Director Rob Shaffer met with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins at the Commodity Classic.

At this year’s U.S. Department of Agriculture booth at the Commodity Classic trade show, farmers could electronically apply for the Farmer Bridge Assistance program in just a matter of minutes.

Shaffer, of El Paso, was one of the first farmers to electronically submit his FBA program application to the Farm Service Agency with the ag secretary present.

“Because of this new electronic option, I didn’t have to drive to my local Farm Service Agency office and instead was able to submit my application online in less than three minutes,” said Shaffer, who was also co-chair of the 2026 Commodity Classic.

The electronic application for the FBA program is part of a larger initiative by the USDA to modernize the agency — an effort called “One Farmer, One File.”

“It was awesome that Secretary Rollins made the time to come to Classic to visit to hear directly from farmers,” Shaffer said. “It will be nice to have the FBA funds, but because of high input prices, they won’t last for long.”

The FBA enrollment program opened Feb. 23 and closes April 17.