WASHINGTON — The details of the United States Department of Agriculture’s $16 billion package aimed at supporting American agricultural producers were released Thursday.
The details were announced by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and discussed the USDA’s Market Facilitation Program, Food Purchase and Distribution Program and Agricultural Trade Promotion Program.
In May, President Donald Trump directed Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. The aforementioned programs are designed to assist agricultural producers while Trump works to address market access barriers.
USDA’S MARKET FACILITATION PROGRAM
When it comes to the Market Facilitation Program, sign up at local Farm Service Agency offices starts Monday and continues through Dec. 6. Payments will be made by the Farm Service Agency under the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to producers of 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.
Assistance for those non-specialty crops is based on a single county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total plantings of MFP-eligible crops in aggregate in 2019. Those per-acre payments are not dependent on which of those crops are planted in 2019.
A producer’s total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings. County payment rates range from $15 to $150 per acre, depending on the impact of unjustified trade retaliation in that county.
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.
MFP payments also will be made to producers of almonds, cranberries, cultivated ginseng, fresh grapes, fresh sweet cherries, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, and walnuts. Each specialty crop will receive a payment based on 2019 acres of fruit or nut-bearing plants, or in the case of ginseng, based on harvested acres in 2019.
The acreage of non-specialty crops and cover crops must be planted by Aug. 1, 2019 to be considered eligible for MFP payments.
The MFP rule and a related Notice of Funding Availability will be published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2019, when signup begins at local FSA offices. Per-acre non-specialty crop county payment rates, specialty crop payment rates, and livestock payment rates are all currently available on farmers.gov.
MFP payments will be made in up-to three tranches, with the second and third tranches evaluated as market conditions and trade opportunities dictate. If conditions warrant, the second and third tranches will be made in November and early January, respectively. The first tranche will be comprised of the higher of either 50% of a producer’s calculated payment or $15 per acre, which may reduce potential payments to be made in tranches two or three. USDA will begin making first tranche payments in mid-to-late August.
MFP payments are limited to a combined $250,000 for non-specialty crops per person or legal entity. MFP payments also are limited to a combined $250,000 for dairy and hog producers and a combined $250,000 for specialty crop producers. However, no applicant can receive more than $500,000. Eligible applicants must also have an average adjusted gross income for tax years 2014, 2015, and 2016 of less than $900,000 or, 75% of the person’s or legal entity’s average AGI for tax years 2014, 2015, and 2016 must have been derived from farming and ranching. Applicants also must comply with the provisions of the Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation regulations.
Many producers were affected by natural disasters this spring, such as flooding, that kept them out of the field for extended periods. Producers who filed a prevented planting claim and planted an FSA-certified cover crop, with the potential to be harvested qualify for a $15 per acre payment. Acres that were never planted in 2019 are not eligible for an MFP payment.
For more information on the MFP, visit www.farmers.gov/mfp or contact your local FSA office at (231) 757-3707 in Lake County or (231) 775-7681 in Missaukee, Osceola or Wexford counties.
USDA’S FOOD PURCHASE AND DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM
The Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act authority also will be used to implement an up to $1.4 billion Food Purchase and Distribution Program through the Agricultural Marketing Service to purchase surplus commodities affected by trade retaliation such as fruits, vegetables, some processed foods, beef, pork, lamb, poultry and milk for distribution by the Food and Nutrition Service to food banks, schools and other outlets serving low-income individuals.
Agricultural Marketing Service will purchase the affected products in four phases starting on Oct. 1 with deliveries starting in January. The products purchased can be adjusted between phases to accommodate changes due to growing conditions; product availability; market conditions; trade negotiation status; and program capacity. The service will purchase known commodities firs and by purchasing in phases, procurements for commodities that have been sourced in the past can be purchased more quickly and included in the first phase.
USDA’S AGRICULTURAL TRADE PROMOTION PROGRAM
The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service will administer the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program under the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act.
The trade promotion program will provide cost-share assistance to eligible U.S. organizations for activities such as consumer advertising, public relations, point-of-sale demonstrations, participation in trade fairs and exhibits, market research, and technical assistance. During the week of July 15, USDA awarded $100 million to 48 organizations through the trade promotion program to help U.S. farmers and ranchers identify and access new export markets.
The 48 recipients are among the cooperator organizations that applied for $200 million in trade promotion program funds in 2018 that were awarded earlier this year. As part of a new round of support for farmers impacted by unjustified retaliation and trade disruption, those groups had the opportunity to be considered for additional support for their work to boost exports for U.S. agriculture, food, fish, and forestry products.
The list of trade promotion program funding recipients is available at www.fas.usda.gov/atp-funding-allocations.
No comments:
Post a Comment