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MORE ON RECENTLY ANNOUNCED TRADE AID PACKAGE FOR FARMERS
May 15, 2019
Agri-Pulse reports:
Officials at the USDA are in an all-out sprint to put together another emergency trade assistance package for farmers and ranchers now that talks with China have hit a new low. USDA Undersecretary Ted McKinney is telling reporters that it will be only a matter of days before a package worth about $15 billion is ready.
The package, much like the $12 billion Market Facilitation Program unveiled last year, will contain both short-term benefits to farmers, such as cash payments, as well as long-term help, such as new marketing assistance, McKinney said. It also may involve buying some U.S. commodities for food aid but nowhere close to the amount President Trump has suggested, McKinney said.
"The ... portfolio is going to be very diverse," McKinney said. "I don't want to get into the specifics, but it's all of the above."
But farmers may be losing patience
American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall is warning Trump in a letter that there are "anecdotal reports of farmers, particularly those who are dealing with planting delays due to weather, deciding not to plant a crop this year because there's just no market for it.
"We ask that your trade negotiators make a deal as soon as possible to end the tariffs that are slashing our exports, destroying a once-promising market for agriculture ..."
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