Agricultural News
Market Facilitation Program- Round Two- Formally Announced- Sign Up Begins Monday, July 29th
Fri, 26 Jul 2019 05:34:58 CDT
USDA has released details of the second round of Market Facilitation Program payments, with sign up to begin on Monday, July 29th at your local Farm Sevice Agency office. Rob Johannson, Chief Economist for USDA, talked with the media about the program saying "The trade damage model is the same as last year. It is calculated as the difference between trade with tariffs and what it would have been on the baseline without tariffs. It does reflect the largest recent year of trade. The program is agnostic to the type of crop planted. It is not based on what the producer planted."
MFP 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. A producer's total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings.
As had been indicated ahead of this official release of details, each county will differ in the damage estimate. The minimum rate of $15/acre while the maximum payment of $150/acre. There are only twenty two countiues in the US that hit that maximum- five in Texas, Alabama and Georgia, three in Mississippi and Arizona and one in New Mexico. It appears that cotton is the crop that figures heavily into the higher losses. In Oklahoma, the highest dollar loss calculated by USDA happened in Jackson County, with the loss set at $115 per acre. Atoka County is a surprising second highest rate in Oklahoma- at 85 dollars per acre.
On Prevent Plant acres- they will receive a $15.00 per acre payment if an eligible cover crop is used. 50% of payment is made up front (first payment) and will be a minimum of a $15 (which could be 100% of the payment). Anything above $15 will be paid out at a later date if deemed necessary. 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. Payment limits will be in effect- $250,000 per entity and $500,000 for all three types of payments to be made.
Regarding how the payment rates were constructed- Chief Economist Johannson told reporters "The last thing we wanted to do was to put together a program that would make producers feel like they needed to plant soybeans (to collect #MFP2)."
To see the county by county rates that payments will be calculated on, click or tap here.
To review more details about this program, how to sign up and more, click or tap here.
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