Farmers in Ringgold County will be paid $56 per acre by a USDA program to soften the blow from the ongoing trade war with China.
The payments will be provided to row crop and specialty crop growers and livestock producers.
The program 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 of those crops are planted in 2019. A producer’s total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings.
County payment rates nationwide range from $15 to $150 per acre, depending on the impact of unjustified trade retaliation in that county.
Neighboring counties to Ringgold have similar payment rates. Taylor County will receive the highest area payment with $62 per acre. Decatur County will receive $60 per acre, Union County $58 per acre and Clarke County $52 per acre. Worth County in Missouri is set to receive $63 per acre.
Cherokee County will receive the highest payout in the state at $79 per acre.
The federal government will provide $15 an acre for farmers who planted cover crops because they were unable to grow corn, soybeans or other crops due to rain, cold and other adverse weather.
Farmers could begin signing up for the payments on Monday. Growers could begin receiving payments by mid- to late August.
Pork producers will receive $11 per animal to offset losses, and dairy producers will receive 20 cents per hundredweight of milk produced. Based on the payment range in Iowa, farmers could receive between $1.2 billion and $2.4 billion to reduce losses from falling crop prices.
