Farmers and ranchers have until Thursday, Feb. 14, to sign up for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Market Facilitation Program (MFP), which was launched last year to help producers suffering from damages due to unjustified trade retaliation.
Farmers and ranchers can apply without proof of yield but must certify 2018 production by May 1, 2019.
Since its launch in September 2018, more than 864,000 farmers and ranchers have applied, supporting those hit hard with nearly $8 billion in estimated payments.
“The Agriculture Department has paid $6.4 billion to farmers and ranchers affected by retaliatory tariffs. A total of $9.6 billion has been set aside for payments on 2018 production,” Dave Salmonsen, American Farm Bureau Federation senior director of Congressional Relations, said. “The other components include the trade promotion program, which has awarded $200 million to 57 different organizations to promote U.S. agricultural products worldwide. The program is also committing $2.1 billion to purchase products for donation. We urge farmers impacted by these retaliatory tariffs to take advantage of this program.”
Farmers who grow corn, cotton, dairy, hogs, shelled almonds, sorghum, soybeans, fresh sweet cherries and wheat should apply at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.
MFP applications are available online at www.farmers.gov/MFP.
Applications can be completed at a local FSA office or submitted electronically either by scanning, emailing or faxing. To locate or contact your local FSA office, visit www.farmers.gov.
Applications can also be completed via the farmers.gov dashboard by producers who have Level 2 eAuthentication accounts. Sign into the dashboardat https://www.farmers.gov/sign-in. Farmers who do not have an account can register for an account at www.eauth.usda.gov.