SPRINGFIELD – Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is accusing the U.S. Department of Agriculture of playing favorites with trade war aid payments by giving more money to southern cotton farmers who were less affected by the trade war than Illinois soybean farmers. “USDA has overcompensated southern cotton growers, whose market losses are small and whose prices have gone up, with more aid on a county-by-county basis than Illinois’ soybean farmers,” Durbin said in a statement Monday. Durbin, a Democrat who sits on the Senate agriculture committee, made the accusation after the USDA last week distributed the third and final round of aid payments to farmers affected by the ongoing trade war with China. The $14.5 billion of payments came from an aid package called the Market Facilitation Program, which aimed to cushion the blow of international trade disputes on farm income. “Under President Trump, farmers last year received 40 percent of their income from the government,” Durbin said, referring to the $33 billion of trade aid, disaster assistance and Farm Bill subsidies that have kept farmers afloat. A report published by Democrats on the agriculture committee, which analyzed the first round of payments, showed that southern cotton farmers received more money per acre than Midwest soybean farmers who were harder hit. The five states that received the most aid per acre were heavy cotton producers Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas.
Comment on Durbin claims USDA playing favorites with trade war aid, hurting Illinois farmers
borner@capitolnewsillinois.com, Northwest Herald
Wed, 02/12/2020 - 7:16am
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