"President Donald Trump has delivered on his promise to provide aid to U.S. farmers hit by his sweeping tariff policy, but that hasn't freed the agriculture industry from their worries of tight margins and volatile markets. On Monday, Trump, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, announced a $12 billion farm aid program, which outlined much-needed relief for farmers who sounded the alarms about increasing input costs and fewer export opportunities amid ongoing trade tensions. Farmers will begin receiving funds by the end of February, Rollins said."
"While farmers and agricultural economists see the package as a way to move forward after a disappointing harvest season, they fear the precedent of cash bailouts does not provide systemic solutions to a beleaguered industry, and don't believe the $12 billion gesture is enough to solve agriculture's deeper challenges. "We're talking $12 billion, and while it is a lot of money, in the grand scheme of things, it's still going to be a Band-Aid on a bigger wound," Ryan Loy, assistant professor and extension economist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, told Fortune. "How can we triage this situation right now, work on that longer-term solution? That's really, I think, the overall attitude toward it.""
"The one-time payment program will send $11 billion to major row-crop producers growing corn, soybeans, and rice, and the remaining $1 billion will be reserved for specialty crop-growers, such as sugar. Trump said additional aid programs will depend on whether trade improves with China and other countries. While the money is welcome, farmers say they'd rather have the governmen"
A $12 billion farm aid program was announced to assist U.S. farmers affected by tariff-driven trade disruptions, with funds to begin disbursement by the end of February. The package directs $11 billion to major row-crop producers (corn, soybeans, rice) and $1 billion to specialty crop growers such as sugar. Officials linked further assistance to improvements in trade relations with China and other countries. Farmers and agricultural economists welcome immediate relief but caution that one-time cash payments do not address underlying problems like tight profit margins, rising input costs, reduced export opportunities, and the need for longer-term structural solutions.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]