On July 25, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced further details of the $16 billion package to support American agriculture produc­ers, including a second installment of the Market Facilitation Program.

This is the second time President Trump has followed through on his commitment to pro­vide farmers needed relief from trade disputes. The USDA has been autho­rized by the President to provide direct payments through the MFP for 2019 to assist impacted producers, which reflects the estimated impacts of the retaliatory tariffs and non-tariff barriers to exports of U.S. agricultural goods.

Payments will be made by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) under the authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act to producers of alfalfa hay, barley, canola, corn, crambe, dried beans, dry peas, extra-long staple cotton, flax­seed, lentils, long grain and medium grain rice, millet, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, rapeseed, rye, safflower, ses­ame seed, small and large chickpeas, sorghum, soybeans, sunflower seed, temperate japonica rice, triticale, upland cotton and wheat. All sor­ghum types are program eligible.

Assistance is based on a sin­gle-county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total plantings of MFP-eligi­ble crops in aggregate in 2019. Those per-acre payments are not dependent on which crops are planted in 2019. County payment rates range from $15-$150 per acre, depending on the impact of unjustified trade retaliation in that county.

MFP payments will be made in up to three tranches with the second and third tranches evaluated as market conditions and trade opportunities dictate. It is important to note produc­er’s total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings.

Signup for MFP is available at local FSA offices until Friday, December 6, 2019. For more information, visit SorghumGrowers.com/mfp-payment-resources/. If you encounter any questions or concerns about sorghum eligibility during signup, contact National Sorghum Producers at 800-658-9808. We are happy to assist.

###

This story originally appeared in the Summer 2019 Issue of Sorghum Grower magazine in the Capitol Hill department.