I joined others members of the House Agriculture Committee in meeting with USDA Undersecretary Bill Northey last Thursday. Undersecretary Northey presented details of the Market Facilitation Program (MFP), implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill commodity and crop insurance provisions, as well as the status of disaster supplemental assistance.
I also heard from and asked questions of administrators of the Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced further details of the $16 billion package announced in June aimed at supporting farmers and ranchers while the Trump administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals around the world.
The Market Facilitation Program (MFP) provides direct assistance to producers with commodities that have been impacted by retaliatory tariffs and will be made in up-to three tranches, with the second and third evaluated as market conditions and trade opportunities dictate. USDA will begin making first tranche payments in mid-to-late August which 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 future tranches. If future market conditions warrant, the second and third tranches will be made in November and early January, respectively.
MFP payments are based on a single county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total plantings of MFP-eligible crops in aggregate in 2019 and are not dependent on the type of eligible crop planted. Additionally, a producer’s total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings. County payment rates range from $15 to $73 per acre in Kansas, depending on the impact of unjustified trade retaliation for the county. To see the payment rate for your county, Click Here.
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.
Eligibility in the 2019 program is not contingent upon participation in the 2018 MFP program. Signup for the 2019 MFP will take place at your local FSA office and will run from Monday, July 29 through Friday, December 6, 2019. Acreage of non-specialty crops and cover crops must be planted by August 1, 2019 to be considered eligible for MFP payments. As a result of the flooding this spring, 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 not planted in 2019 will not be eligible for MFP payments.
A second program – Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) – will utilize up to $100 million to help locate new and emerging markets around the world to establish new export opportunities for our producers. The third program – Food Purchase and Distribution Program (FPDP) – calls for USDA to purchase up to $1.4 billion worth of surplus commodities from farmers and ranchers across the country for donation to our nation’s food banks.
Dr. Roger Marshall, R-Great Bend, is the First District Kansas Congressman.