South Dakota’s Congressional delegation has written a letter to U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue asking for assistance for the state’s farmers and ranchers. Senator John Thune says with the trade war dragging on and now escalating, USDA is warranted in providing some help.
Thune says the $15 to $20 billion trade aid package USDA has been charged to develop and disseminate in the next few days will be helpful, but it needs to be more equitable. He says they’re recommending the new Market Facilitation Program payment be based on production history, so those not getting a crop are not left out.
He says they’re hearing from not just farmers, but lenders and agribusinesses about the tough state of the farm economy.
USDA is signaling they’ll be announcing a trade aid package shortly and will use a different formula to base payments on that will provide a bigger piece of the pie to other commodities beyond soybeans.
