It’s been two months since the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it would be implementing some $16 billion in programs to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation and trade disruption. According to
Reece Langley, National Cotton Council (NCC) vice president of Washington operations, details on the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) are expected soon.
Langley says the NCC has been urging USDA to consider greater flexibility in the payment limits.
Of the $16 billion in aid programs, $14.5 billion of those funds will go to producers as direct payments through the MFP. Payments will be made to producers of cotton, alfalfa, hay, barley, canola, corn, crambe, dry peas, flaxseed, lentils, long grain and medium grain rice, mustard seed, dried beans, oats, peanuts, rapeseed, safflower, sesame seed, small and large chickpeas, sorghum, soybeans, sunflower seed, temperate japonica rice and wheat. Dairy producers will receive a per hundredweight payment on production history, and hog producers will receive a payment based on hog and pig inventory for a later-specified time frame. Producers of tree nuts, fresh sweet cherries, cranberries and fresh grapes will receive a payment based on 2019 acres of production.