Top USDA leadership held a no-cameras media conference call early Tuesday afternoon to announce a trio of one-time programs aimed at offsetting the harm of what they called “illegal retaliation” of trade partners following the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Collectively, the aid programs will be valued at $12 billion with one program offering direct payments to producers. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue outlined the three programs as follows:
• Market Facilitation Program—This program will provide direct payments incrementally especially for soybeans, corn, wheat, sorghum, dairy, and hog producers “to help manage disrupted markets, deal will commodity surplus, and expand new markets.”
• Food Purchase and Distribution Program—This program will purchase the surplus of affected commodities like fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, dairy, pork and beef. This surplus will be purchased and distributed to food banks and other nutrition programs.
• Trade Promotion Program—Assist in developing new export markets. This will be done in conjunction with private and industry efforts already in place.
Few details on the logistics of the programs were offered during the official announcement, but some information came through during the question-and-answer segment with reporters from mainstream and agricultural media outlets.
In responding to a question, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach said the programs have not yet been rolled out. He said that they expect the programs will take effect on or by Labor Day.
Based on descriptions of the three programs from both Perdue and USDA’s Chief Economist, Dr. Rob Johannson, it appears that beef will not be a beneficiary of the direct payments involved in the Market Facilitation Program.
Look for more in-depth coverage of this announcement from WLJ this Friday online and in our upcoming July 30 paper. — Kerry Halladay, WLJ editor
