A large part of the $16 billion package developed to support producers suffering from trade tariffs is the Market Facilitation Program (MFP). Payments will be made by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to producers of various crops, but dairy and hog producers will also receive a payment. Here is USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, Bill Northey.
In response to the USDA’s outline of its planned trade-mitigation assistance to farmers, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO Jim Mulhern offered the following statement:
“We appreciate the efforts of USDA and the White House to assist farmers who have suffered significant losses due to retaliatory tariffs. Dairy producers have so far lost more than $2.3 billion in revenues since tariff escalation began in earnest one year ago. USDA’s new approach raises the level of aid to dairy farmers from last year’s program, a step in the right direction. We also urge the Department to revise the outdated production history information used to calculate payments, which lessens the effectiveness of the program.
“Today’s announcement underscores that dairy farmers need to rely on trade, not aid, to prosper in a global marketplace. We will continue to work with USDA to help dairy farmers expand exports and increase consumption of dairy products through nutrition programs. Resolving the current trade impasse with China and aggressively expanding ties with other trading partners also is essential to make these aid packages unnecessary. We are also working with the administration and Congress to pass USMCA, which would immediately create new opportunities for U.S. dairy.”
And this was a release from the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC):
Eligible U.S. pork producers will receive $11 per head based on inventory between April 1 – May 15, 2019. The USDA also announced it will make pork purchases of $208 million to support its programs for the food insecure. National Pork Producers Council President David Herring, a producer from Lillington, N.C., issued the following statement:
“U.S. pork producers are highly dependent on export markets, shipping more than 25 percent of production to foreign markets. We are grateful to the Trump administration for providing partial relief as hog farmers have incurred significant losses due to trade disputes that have lingered for more than a year.
“U.S. pork is the most affordable, highest quality and safest in the world and our top objective remains the same: We seek the chance to compete on a level playing field in markets around the globe. Our top priorities are an end to the trade dispute with China, where retaliatory tariffs are preventing U.S. pork from fully capitalizing on a historic sales opportunity created by the outbreak of African swine fever in the world’s largest pork-consuming nation, and a trade agreement with Japan, where U.S. pork is losing market share due to trade agreements Japan has recently formed with the EU and other international competitors.”
Signup for MFP at your local FSA office starts Monday, July 29 and runs through December 6.