Perdue Provides More Clarity On Tariff Aid

As rain and wind continue to hammer much of the Corn Belt, farmers were glued to their phones, computers, TVs and radios Thursday in an attempt to learn as much as they could about the 2019 tariff aid package announced by the Trump administration. Still, the details released by USDA left more questions then answers. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue cleared up some of the cloudiness on Friday in an interview with AgriTalk host Chip Flory. “I think [farmers] should make their decisions based on if there were no program at all, because certainly we have not disclosed details that would distort planting intentions for intentional purposes,” he told Flory. “We always want our producers to plan for the market, not for government programs, whether they be farm bill programs, safety nets or something like this.” Because farmers, and their planters, have been sidelined for much of May, most of the country’s corn crop has yet to be planted. That has left farmers to consider claiming a record number of prevent plant acres. But Thursday’s announcement added some confusion to that decision a little more complicated because an aid payment will not be made on prevented plant acres. “We have a safety net program for prevented plant, government insurance perspective, it's pretty lucrative, honestly,” Perdue said. “The premise behind this market facilitation program is trade disruption and if you don't have a crop to sell, you have difficulty proving a tariff disruption or tariff damage in that regard. We're gonna have to rely on our basic safety net programs through the farm bill for prevented plant.” University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin has repeatedly said he does not agree with this provision of the aid program and that farmers should not be punished for Mother Nature keeping them from being in the fields...MORE