By Ryan Hanrahan
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released details on Wednesday about how much row crop farmers will receive next year from a $12 billion aid program, but soybean growers say such payments fall short of helping those hurt by low crop prices and trade disputes.”
“The Farmer Bridge Assistance program is expected to distribute $11 billion in one-time payments to farmers, who will be paid on a per-acre rate if they planted one of the 19 commodity crops identified as being eligible for the program, USDA said in a statement on Wednesday,” Huffstutter and Ingwersen reported. “While the aid is expected to help farmers prepare for the next planting season, growers and agricultural economists say the payments are a fraction of farm losses and will not rescue the sagging U.S. farm economy.”
“The highest per-acre payments will be paid to rice farmers, who could receive $132.89 an acre; cotton farmers, at $117.35 an acre; and oat farmers, at $81.75 an acre,” Huffstutter and Ingwersen reported. “Meanwhile, farmers are eligible for a payment of $44.36 per corn acre, $30.88 per soybean acre and $39.35 per wheat acre. The payments are calculated using 2025 planted acres, cost-of-production data, and market conditions, USDA said.”