U.S. farmers have been battered in recent years by the trade war with China and extreme weather. They hoped 2020 would be an improvement. Then came a pandemic. nbcnews.to/3cZlabV (1/8) #NBCNewsThreads
Industry estimates of agricultural losses for the year had risen to $40B by early May, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report.
And the government has earmarked billions to help farmers. But, there will be winners and losers. (2/8)
And the government has earmarked billions to help farmers. But, there will be winners and losers. (2/8)
As part of a $19B bailout called the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, individual farmers who have suffered price declines of 5% or more due to market disruptions between mid-January and mid-April will get $16B of the money, the USDA says. nbcnews.to/3cZlabV (3/8)
Applications open in a week, and payments will be capped at $250,000 per person or entity, though corporations, LLCs and limited partnerships may qualify for exceptions.
58 specific commodities are eligible, though USDA says more could be added later. (4/8)
58 specific commodities are eligible, though USDA says more could be added later. (4/8)
The initiative comes on the heels of other recent aid aimed at farmers — 2 trade war bailouts, worth a total of $28B, and the PPP COVID-19 relief loans.
But these quick-fix programs to get cash to farmers have tended to come with complications, critics say. (5/8)
But these quick-fix programs to get cash to farmers have tended to come with complications, critics say. (5/8)
“A key challenge in coronavirus aid is that, so far, the amount of money is not near enough to cover losses that have happened to agriculture,” Nathan Hendricks, an agricultural economist, says. “There’s going to be a lot more competing when there’s really limited dollars.” (6/8)
Not everyone will be happy with the specifics of the most recent bailout announcement; some commodities named as needing help — from catfish to craft beer, chicken to sod — are not eligible for direct payments in USDA’s initial list. nbcnews.to/3cZlabV (7/8)
This package may be even more logistically daunting than its trade war predecessors, experts say. USDA must continue to evaluate COVID-19-related losses for crops that aren’t even planted yet—and standardize their formula as much as possible across a diverse array of goods. (8/8)
