Two-thirds of funds allocated to help U.S. farmers impacted by retaliatory tariffs went to the top 10 percent of the largest farms, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture records, reports CNBC. The Market Facilitation program was introduced in 2018 by President Trump, to “provide assistance to farmers and ranchers with commodities directly impacted by unjustified foreign retaliatory tariffs.”
The records, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, show that the top half of recipients received 95 percent of total payments from the $28 billion program. The average payment for the top tenth of recipients was $164,813, in contrast with the average payment of $2,469.49 for the bottom half of recipients.
Michael Slattery, a Wisconsin farmer, believes that the program failed to help small producers, putting them at a further disadvantage against the agricultural giants. Slattery says that the last round of subsidy payments made up for only half the income he lost from the tariffs on soybeans and other major corps on his 240-acre farm in Manitowoc County.
“It doesn’t cover your losses,” he said. “We have greater and greater concentration of industry.”
The White House referred CNBC’s requests for comment to the USDA, which, according to the report, said the program was “designed to offer aid to the farms that need it the most.” However, a White House spokesperson acknowledged that the income limit of $900,000 for eligible participants, “varies depending upon a farm’s organizational structure.” Full Story
Related: COVID-19 Threatens Farm Workers During Harvest Season; Removal of Tariffs Saved Jobs at Walkers Shortbread.
from Industry Operations https://ift.tt/2F9WsJF
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