The Farmers Bridge Assistance Program is drawing both optimism and caution from farmers.
The National Farmers Union says that it could offer great relief, but they will be closely watching the rollout to see who benefits the most.
According to Mike Stranz, “This is the kind of long-awaited trade aid package that the administration has been talking about. This will provide up to $12 billion in assistance to farmers and ranchers, at least for starters, farmers who are affected by the trade war with the loss in revenue stemming from lower exports and higher input costs, too. So, we’ve got $11 billion that will be directed towards corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, commodity crops, and some of the details are still yet to be released on that.”
The remaining billion dollars will go to specialty crop growers.
In the meantime, recent surveys show the majority of farmers plan to use their payments to pay down debt. With farm bankruptcies expected to be high this year, Stranz says a more permanent fix will be needed.
“So, this assistance will help in the short-term, but that shouldn’t be confused with the long-term solution,” he notes. “We still need structural fixes to help restore vitality and viability to our rural economy and to farms.”
Stranz is calling on Congress to get a Farm Bill across the finish line to give producers more permanent solutions.
