USDA’s Farm Service Agency has modified the Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP) eligibility requirements. The program — announced last year — provides $50 million in funds to pay pork producers who made spot market transactions between April 16 and Sept. 1, 2020. South Dakota Pork Producers Council Executive Director Glenn Muller says it clarifies eligibility requirements and extended the signup deadline.
He says it also expands the agency’s interpretation of “spot market sales” and “sale to a packer” to better reflect the nontraditional types of transactions made during that period, including sales to dealers, cull markets, meat lockers, intermediaries and others.
Muller says the changes are welcome as producers forced into spot market sales have been excluded from many of the previous recovery programs. However, it won’t make producers whole.
Payments will be made after the application period concludes and, should the number of payouts exceed the funding available, the $54/head payment may be reduced so that all eligible recipients can be included in the program. Producers will need to submit all necessary supporting documentation to FSA ahead of the newly extended April 29, 2022, deadline.
