- Picking Winners and Losers between Regions and Crops:
95% of top payment rates have gone to southern farmers, who have been harmed less than other regions
- Helping Wealthy Farms and Foreign Companies Instead of Small Farms:
Payments made to billionaires and foreign-owned companies, including $90 million to JBS, a Brazilian company
- Failing to Recover Market Access:
No long-term investment or plan for rebuilding markets
While farmers in the Midwest and Northern Plains have
been affected the most, Southern farmers have received the highest
payment rates. Looking at the first round of 2019 MFP payments per acre,
the five top states are in the South. Additionally, the USDA trade
assistance does nothing to target assistance to small and medium-sized
farms that are most vulnerable to trade damage. The report also raises
concerns that the Administration lacks a long-term strategy to rebuild
the markets they have lost. Highlights from the report include:
- Farmers in Georgia have already received over $50 per acre in the first round of 2019 payments, while farmers in 34 other states received $25 per acre or less, including 14 states that received $10 per acre or less.
- Both cotton farmers and soybean farmers received payments for the 2018 crop, despite the fact that cotton prices have increased while soybean prices have decreased.
- All of the counties in Wyoming and the majority of counties in states including Montana and Colorado got the minimum payment rate. Farmers in these counties will get no payments from the second or third installments of 2019 MFP.
- The Trump Administration ignores any trade damage not related to its own chaotic trade actions and largely shuts out specialty crops and forestry from direct assistance.
- Instead of taking steps to support small and beginning operations, USDA doubled the payment limit for row crops payments from $125,000 to $250,000. This change will concentrate payments even more in the large complicated farming conglomerates.
The report is from the Dem's, and there may be a logical or statistical reason for these figure discrepancies, I don't know. But take a wild guess as to what part of the country the Sec. of Ag hails from?
And just yesterday, in commenting on the European farm program, I wrote:
º Government subsidies provide more assistance to the elite and well-connected than the supposed recipients
Ranchers will not be gleeful that $90 million in payments went to JBS, the largest meat processor in the world. Yesterday I also wrote:
º Government programs are "warped by corruption and self-dealing."
JBS USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA, about which we know the following:
On May 12, 2017, authorities announced that they were investigating whether JBS SA had received illegal financing advantages from state-owned bank BNDES. Dubbed "Operation Bullish", police stated that these had led to a loss of around $385 million in public funds. JBS said the financing was lawful, and BNDES said it was cooperating with authorities. Executives including CEO Wesley Batista and chairman Joesley Batista were questioned by federal police. The court forbade the Batistas from restructuring the business during the investigation.[17] On May 16, 2017 JBS said it might delay its planned IPO due to legal troubles. The CEO made it clear, however, that the IPO was not canceled.[5]
On May 17, O Globo reported that it had obtained a recording of Michel Temer encouraging JBS chairman Joesley Batista to "bribe a jailed former legislator to buy the lawmaker’s silence." The news resulted in protests and calls for Temer's resignation, and the Brazilian stock market dropped. Temer denied wrongdoing.[20] On May 17, 2017 O Globo reported that Joesley Batista, through J&F Investimentos, allegedly paid bribes to three presidents. Documentation of the payments[clarification needed] was released by the Supreme Court on May 19.[9] On May 19, 2017, Joesley Batista admitted to paying bribes to Michel Temer, Dilma Rousseff and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, over the previous 14 years. Joesley Batista told prosecutors J&F Investimentos had paid a total of $123 million in bribes to Brazilian politicians in recent years.[13] All three presidents denied accepting bribes. Temer alleged Batista had doctored evidence, including a recording of Temer talking to Batista, to make money from the scandal through insider trading. Batista denied illegal share purchases. As of May 22, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) was demanding $3.4 billion from J&F Investimentos as part of a promised plea deal, according to the press.[citation needed] The former head of CVM referred to testimony that asserted J&F Investimentos had bribed 1,829 politicians.[9] In May 2017 JBS retained law firm Baker McKenzie to negotiate possible criminal charges with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.[21][22]
Reports May 31, 2017 said J&F Investimentos had agreed to pay US$3.2 billion in fines, for leniency from the Brazilian government "over 25 years after admitting to giving roughly $150 million—mostly in bribes—to Brazilian politicians."[23] JBS shares afterwards rose 9% on São Paulo's stock exchange. In exchange for their cooperation, the chairman and his older brother avoided jail time. All three former presidents continued to deny accepting bribes from Joesley Batista.[23]
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