USDA announces next round of Market Facilitation Payments, congressman says
A Kansas congressman who serves on the House Agriculture Committee says more Market Facilitation Payments are on the way for producers directly impacted by illegal retaliatory tariffs resulting in the loss of traditional export markets.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the latest round of payments to help farmers and ranchers deal with the continued impacts of ongoing trade disruptions and non-tariff barriers to exports, said U.S. Congressman Roger Marshall in a news release issued Nov. 11.
“I applaud President Trump and Secretary Perdue for their continued commitment to supporting our farmers and ranchers,” Marshall said. “This and all previous MFP payments are only Band-Aids for a deeper wound. I know our farmers and ranchers continue to struggle, but President (Donald) Trump has already shown his commitment to opening new markets, and I am optimistic additional markets will continue to be opened for Kansas products.”
Marshall continues to advocate for the signing of additional trade deals, including agreements with Canada and Mexico under the USMCA, the EU and other southeastern Asian markets.
While a definitive timeline for payments has not been set, Perdue was hopeful to have checks to producers by the end of November or early December. This is the second year of MFP payments. Since the program was started in 2018, it has issued about $8.59 billion in payments to producers.
Farmers have benefited from previous trade aid payments and producers, he said, and they will have until Dec. 6 to sign up for the program. MFP applications are available online at farmers.gov/MFP. Applications can be completed at a local FSA office or submitted electronically either by scanning, emailing, or faxing.
MFP payments are available to eligible producers of specified commodities for 2019 that include certain non-specialty crops, specialty crops, dairy, and livestock, according to a fact sheet from USDA. Payments will be made in up to three tranches (or portions), with the second and third tranches evaluated as market conditions and trade opportunities dictate. If conditions warrant, the second tranche will be made in November, and the third in January. The first payment will be comprised of the higher of either 50 percent of a producer’s calculated payment or $15 per acre. The first payments were issued starting in late August. Producers requesting an MFP payment must have a crop acreage report on file with FSA for MFP crop commodities.
Non-specialty crop payments are based on a single county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total plantings of MFP-eligible crops in aggregate in 2019. 1 Market Facilitation Program Farm Service Agency FACT SHEET September 2019 A producer’s total payment-eligible plantings are based on the lesser of total 2019 plantings or 2018 plantings and prevented plantings. County payment rates range from $15 to $150 per acre, depending on the impact of unjustified trade retaliation in that county. Visit farmers.gov/MFP for a list of payment rates by county. The following non-specialty crops are eligible for MFP assistance: alfalfa hay, barley, canola, corn, crambe, dried beans, dry peas, extra-long staple cotton, flaxseed, lentils, long grain and medium grain rice, millet, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, rapeseed, rye, safflower, sesame seed, small and large chickpeas, sorghum, soybeans, sunflower seed, temperate japonica rice, triticale, upland cotton and wheat. Acreage of non-specialty crops and cover crops must have been planted by Aug. 1, 2019, to be considered eligible for payments.
Dairy producers who were in business as of June 1, 2019, will receive a per hundredweight payment on production history, and hog producers will receive a payment based on the number of live hogs owned on a day selected by the producer between April 1 and May 15, 2019. The initial MFP rates for dairy and hogs are as follows:
- Dairy (milk) $0.20 per hundredweight; and
- Hogs $11 per head.