This week, a bipartisan group of Senators asked President Donald Trump to lift the caps on the direct coronavirus relief farmers receive under USDA’s new aid package. South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal says his organization backs that move.
The direct payments are capped at $125,000 per commodity and $250,000 per person. VanderWal says it doesn’t take far to surpass those caps, so in order for the program to help out producers those need to be removed.
He says due to the pandemic and it’s far reaching impacts, the government aid is badly needed more than it ever has been.
The payment limits that were put in the COVID 19 relief aid are in line with the payment limits from the 2018 farm bill.
