NCGA: Trade Aid Comes up Short

The National Corn Growers Association says the second round of trade aid payments provide virtually no relief. The payments, released by the White House Monday, sets the payment rate for corn at just one cent per bushel, despite the fact that corn farmers have suffered an average 44 cent per bushel loss since tariffs were first announced, according to NCGA. President Lynn Chrisp says, “One cent per bushel is woefully inadequate to even begin to cover the losses.” The payments stem from the Department of Agriculture’s Market Facilitation Program. The first round of payments was authorized earlier this fall. In a November 19 letter to USDA Secretary Perdue, Chrisp stressed the disappointment around USDA's approach to calculating MFP payments. Many farmers, according to NCGA, felt it was too narrow in scope and did not capture real-time impacts of trade disruptions.