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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Senate Democrats say the Trump administration’s trade assistance is unfairly benefitting large growers and Southern farmers to the detriment of producers more deserving of the aid.
USDA is preparing to fund the second round of payments under the 2019 Market Facilitation Program as early as late November or early December, but Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is hopeful a third round won't be needed.
The Senate overwhelmingly approves a stopgap bill to keep the government funded through Nov. 21 and replenish the account that USDA relies on to make trade-assistance and commodity program payments.
A House stopgap spending bill aimed at avoiding an Oct. 1 government shutdown would ensure that trade assistance to farmers continues and also would bolster specialty crop research and fund USDA’s coming hemp program.
Under pressure from rural lawmakers, House Democratic leaders are expected to ensure USDA can continue making trade assistance payments to farmers after the new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.
House Democratic leaders are aiming to push through a stopgap spending bill this week after threatening a fight with the White House, and potentially with some of their own rural members, over a plan that could jeopardize farmers’ trade aid payments.
Buoyed by the Trump administration's trade mitigation payments, U.S. farm income is expected to increase for the third straight year, but still will not come close to its 2013 peak.
The Agriculture Department sharply increased commodity payment rates for its 2019 trade assistance package, boosting the corn rate by 14-fold and quadrupling cotton’s, based on higher estimates of the trade damage that farmers have suffered.
The latest version of the Trump administration’s trade assistance for farmers may provide some growers with more money than their actual losses from the ongoing trade war with China, but supporters of the aid package say it’s vital to helping many produces to survive until better times.
