Agriculture Policy

By Randy Gordon, President and CEO The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that effective Oct. 1, it will impose an approximately 10 percent increase in fees charged to grain, cotton, rice, peanut and other warehouses operating under the U.S. Warehouse Act (USWA). AMS maintains that the fee increase is needed to cover expenses associated with the voluntary federal warehouse program, “including the maintenance of a sufficient operating reserve,” and called the increase a “remedial action to correct the budgetary shortfall for administration of ... Read More

By Max Fisher, Director of Economics and Government Relations The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payment rates will range between $15 and $150 per acre and will be made in three parts, with the first payments expected in mid-August, the agency announced July 25. The 2019 MFP package is intended partially to compensate U.S. producers with commodities affected by retaliatory tariffs imposed by foreign countries, with total payments reaching up to $14.5 billion. (The agency also authorized up to $1.4 billion for the Food Purchase and Distribution ... Read More

By Max Fisher, Director of Economics and Government Relations For producers in 12 states, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline to July 22 to set up an appointment to report spring-seeded crop acreage to Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices and crop insurance agents. The reporting extension applies to producers in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin. “This deadline extension is part of our broader effort to increase program flexibility and reduce overall ... Read More

The House on June 5 passed a package of appropriations bills that fund several federal departments, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for the 2020 fiscal year, which spans Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020. The package, passed by a 227-194 vote, exceeded the president’s budget request by more than $5 billion, allocating a total of $24.31 billion. The legislation provides $1.802 billion for farm programs, $32.1 million greater than fiscal 2019, and includes an increase of $30 million for 2018 farm law implementation. Democrats also included language blocking USDA’s proposal to ... Read More

By Max Fisher, Director of Economics and Government Relations Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on June 10 issued a statement on disaster and trade-related assistance, noting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide more information on the trade-related Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payment rates and details of the various components of the disaster relief legislation “in the coming weeks.” In his statement, Perdue reiterated President Trump’s commitment to provide up to $16 billion “to support farmers as they absorb some of the negative impact of unjustified ... Read More

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced late last week the availability of a one-year extension for Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts expiring Sept. 30, 2019. The extension is a stopgap until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) can finish its rulemaking process to account for the changes to CRP that were made in the 2018 farm law. CRP contracts on approximately 1.6 million acres are currently scheduled to expire on Sept. 30. The signup for the one-year extension will begin June 3 and end on Aug. 23. The extension is not available to CRP participants if the ... Read More

President Donald Trump on June 6 signed the $19 billion disaster aid bill, which includes about $3 billion to assist agricultural producers suffering from disasters that occurred in 2018 and 2019. Under the bill, payments for crop insurance policies under the Federal Crop Insurance Act or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program will cover up to 90 percent of the loss. Crops not covered under these programs can receive up to 70 percent of the loss.There is widespread confusion among growers as to how this provision may relate to crops prevented from being planted, noted the American ... Read More

By Sarah Gonzalez, Director of Communications and Digital Media Trade-disruption assistance intended for American farmers should not include payments made to any foreign companies, said Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and eight other Democratic senators in a May 29 letter to Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “While we understand (USDA’s) desire to aid farmers impacted by this trade disruption, we urge you to stop making trade mitigation commodity purchases that benefit foreign-owned companies,” the senators wrote. The Trump administration ... Read More