Farm Action issued the following response to a forthcoming announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reportedly provide $12 billion in assistance to farmers.
This statement can be attributed to Joe Maxwell, Farm Action’s chief strategy officer and co-founder:
“Farmers across the country are hurting. We are glad to see help is on the way, including a reported $1 billion in assistance for specialty crop growers. This package recognizes that all farmers, not just row crop producers, are suffering from tariffs, soaring input costs, and years of volatile markets.
Yet, the current problems facing our agriculture system have been decades in the making due to failed policy that prioritizes commodity crops for export, which only benefits global grain traders and meatpackers. Without addressing the root causes of this issue, farmers will be left to continue relying on government assistance into the future. That is why Congress must take action and fix our failed subsidy system in the next farm bill.”
Farm Action’s recent blog China Stopped Buying U.S. Soybeans. The Real Problem Started Decades Ago analyzed the current soybean market to offer context for how our farm system reached this point. As the blog outlines, current policy has trapped farmers on a treadmill of debt, volatility, and consolidation, and left them reliant on taxpayer-funded bailouts to stay afloat.
Media Contact: Emma Nicolas, [email protected], 202-450-0094
