Farmers will get cash payments of up to $250,000 each to help them survive an estimated 20% drop in farm income this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
President Trump announced a $16 billion fund in for direct agricultural aid and said the additional money might be spent this summer to help the sector.
In addition, the government plans to spend $3 billion to buy fruit, vegetables, dairy, and meat which will then be donated to charities and food banks.
“I’m announcing … a $19 billion relief program for our great farmers and ranchers as they cope with the fallout of the global pandemic,” said Trump at the White House on Friday. The USDA will receive additional funding in July “to continue help” to producers, he said.
Farmers and ranchers will be eligible for up to $125,000 per commodity with an overall limit of $250,000 per person according to the USDA. The only ineligible people would be those with more than $900,000 in adjusted gross income and those who get more than 25% of their income outside of agriculture.
Earlier today the American Farm Bureau praised the $19 billion aid package provided to the farmers noting how helpful it will be.
Cattle producers will get almost a third of the money, $5.1 billion according to North Dakota Senator John Hoeven. Row-crop farmers would get $3.9 billion, dairy farmers $2.1 billion, specialty crop growers $2.1 billion, hog farmers will receive $1.6 billion, and producers of other crops will get $500 million.
More details on the program will be released at a later date.