The Trump administration plans to roll out an initial payment of up to $12 billion for farmers hurt by the president’s tariff policies, according to Politico. However, it won’t take place until the government shutdown ends as confirmed by USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden.
“Until the government re-opens, we don’t have appropriations, and there’s no money to be had, whether you’re talking about recipients of our SNAP program or you’re talking about farmers who may need additional assistance for a bridge to get to next year,” Vaden told Chip Flory on “AgriTalk.”
North Dakota Senator John Hoeven says a Market Facilitation Program — similar to the $28 billion during the first trade war — is “all teed up and good to go.”
Farmers to Benefit From Trade Aid and China Deal
The finalized amount will come on top of the recent purchase commitments with China. Although while appearing on “AgriTalk,” Vaden seemed to walk back the extent of the aid in light of the market reaction to trade frameworks and purchases from China and other export customers.
“Obviously, we need to see how the markets respond, and as the Secretary has already noted, we need to have, we may need to have, a bridge to next year, but how many lanes that bridge has is going to be determined by what the market does between now and then,” he explains.
China’s commitment to buy 12 mmt or 441 million bushels of soybeans and other ag products, plus additional trade deals, are a shot in the arm for the market, Vaden adds.
Farmers Want Trade Not Aid
Farmers such as Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, have been loud and clear they would rather have trade not aid.
“The American farmer wants to have the opportunity to make a profit and to make a living from the market. We are not out looking for a disaster payment, a bridge payment, a economic relief, whatever you want to call it. That is not what the goal is of the American farmer,” Ragland explains.
Last week, soybean futures broke $11 a bushel and set 15-month highs.
“We’re beginning to see that pop in the market as the market responds to the trade deals the president is making,” Vaden says, acknowledging every farmer wants a market-based return instead of a check from the treasury.
While aid doesn’t make producers whole, Ragland says the economic crisis is looming.
“We are right on the cliff ready to fall off on thousands and thousands of our farms,” he describes.
Aid Dollars Moved From CCC Create Problems For Other Farm Programs
Meanwhile, Government Executive reports USDA has moved $13 billion from the Commodity Credit Corporation into another account designed to provide emergency relief. The funding was sitting in limbo with the government shutdown and impacting the priority of other farm programs such as CRP, Dairy Margin Coverage and Market Assistance Loans.
