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ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL AID FOR AGRICULTURE MAY REACH $15.5 BILLION
Apr. 9, 2020
Agri-Pulse reports:
Farmers could be getting to $15.5 billion in aid to offset the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. That total includes the $9.5 billion in aid earmarked in the Phase 3 economic stimulus bill, plus an additional $6 billion that USDA has remaining in its Commodity Credit Corp. account, according to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
An additional $14 billion the stimulus bill provided for replenishing the CCC account can't be distributed until at least July, according to a statement that USDA provided to Agri-Pulse.
"We're in the process right now of collecting proposals and ideas from every sector affected so we can be ... balanced and fair in the allocation of the $9.5 billion, as well as what we have currently in CCC, which is approximately $6 billion," Perdue told reporters Wednesday.
The $14 billion "replenishment will not come until later, so we are limited right now on the CCC to what our cash flow is, which is about $6 billion," he added.
Take note: House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, who talked to Perdue on Sunday, says there should be an announcement in the next week or two about the payments. "They're trying to do this relatively quick," Peterson told constituents in a telephone town hall Wednesday.
Keep in mind: The stimulus bill requires the $9.5 billion to be spent on livestock producers, specialty crop growers and local ag systems. Perdue has more leeway with the CCC account.
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