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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Thursday, February 25, 2021
The Agriculture Department is launching a new round of coronavirus relief payments worth up to $14 billion that will be spread over more commodities with new methods of calculating the assistance.
Major farm groups are working to ensure that a new coronavirus relief package provides more specific directions to the Agriculture Department on how to distribute $20 billion in additional relief.
Senate Republicans are preparing to roll out a $1 trillion coronavirus relief package that will likely include $20 billion in additional funding for USDA to help compensate farmers for pandemic-related losses.
The government shutdown is now in effect, but that doesn’t mean USDA officials aren’t still keeping the nation’s meat supply safe and doing many of the jobs that keeps agricultural commerce flowing. However, some farm payments may be delayed after the first week.
The USDA appears to be on track to unveil on Friday details of a $12 billion assistance plan for farmers hurt by the international blowback from President Donald Trump’s trade battles with China, Mexico, the European Union, Turkey and elsewhere.
A Department of Agriculture report details changes in farm program payment recipients over a 24-year period, and analysts wonder if it could wedge its way into the farm bill conversation.