A farmer monitoring pigs he is rearing
WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US federal government said that it will give farmers an additional $14bn to compensate them for the difficulties they have experienced selling their crops, milk and meat because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The United States Department of Agriculture released details of its plan that it said will provide “financial assistance that gives producers the ability to absorb increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic”.
President Donald Trump first mentioned the aid in a speech Thursday night in Wisconsin, a presidential battleground state that is considered vital for his chances to win a second term.
The additional payments illustrate the importance of farmers as a voting block to Trump’s re-election. He addressed them in Wisconsin directly, saying, “You gotta love Trump,” and promising favourable trade and regulatory changes, as well as tax cuts.
“Now, we have to get four more years to cement it, and to do additional things,” he said.
The coronavirus pandemic has created several problems for farmers. Lowered availability of labour has reduced crop and livestock production, as well as processing capacity in meatpacking plants and other facilities. These problems have pushed prices that farmers receive for commodities lower. They have also seen a drop in demand for some products as fewer people have been eating out. Farm households also have suffered from loss of income from off-farm jobs that they use to fund farm production needs, household living expenses and payments on farm business debt.
Agriculture groups applauded the additional money, much of which will come in direct payments for crops that meet a specified threshold of price decline. They include corn, soybeans, wheat and some cotton.
Chicken, eggs, milk, beef cattle, pigs and lambs also will be covered, as will tobacco, wool, alfalfa, oats, peanuts, rice and hemp.
Farmers can begin signing up for the money on Monday.
“We listened to feedback received from farmers, ranchers and agricultural organizations about the impact of the pandemic on our nations’ farms and ranches, and we developed a program to better meet the needs of those impacted,” Secretary of Agriculture Perdue said in a statement.
The programme places a payment cap of $250,000 a person or farm entity for all commodities combined. Gross income cannot be more than $900,000, unless at least 75 per cent or more of their income is derived from farming, ranching or forestry-related activities.
In April, the administration rolled out a $19bn programme, most of which was in the form of direct farm payments. That followed $28bn the federal government gave farmers to compensate for two years of disruptions caused by Trump’s tariff battles with trading partners.
The money for the farm programmes comes from the Commodity Credit Corporation, which was created in 1933. It has authority from Congress to borrow up to $30bn from the US Treasury and private lending agencies. — NNN-AGENCIES
