Donald Trump made the promise at a rally in Wisconsin late Thursday (File)
Washington, United States:
In a bid to win over voters in US farm states, President Donald Trump introduced as much as $14 billion in support to farmers and ranchers damage by the coronavirus pandemic.
With simply six weeks left till the presidential election, Trump made the promise at a rally in Wisconsin late Thursday, however the funds come from an present program and it’s unclear how a lot extra cash is left to spend.
The US Division of Agriculture (USDA) supplied particulars Friday of the brand new spherical of funds, which is able to distribute no matter funds stay from a replenishment supplied by Congress to farmers unable to promote their merchandise or who’re dealing with larger prices.
“America’s agriculture communities are resilient, however nonetheless face many challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue mentioned in a press release.
The second spherical of the Coronavirus Meals Help Program (CFAP) is geared toward “agricultural producers who proceed to face market disruptions and related prices due to COVID-19,” and can run by way of the tip of the 12 months, the assertion mentioned.
Congress supplied one other $14 billion in July to this system and USDA continues to course of functions for that cash, so it’s unclear how a lot will stay to assist farmers within the new spherical.
“We have no idea precisely how a lot of that cash shall be left in any case functions have been processed. It will be irresponsible to rely on this cash for the second spherical of help earlier than we now have completed processing all functions,” a USDA spokesperson mentioned.
The division mentioned it listened to considerations from farmers and improved on the primary spherical of the CFAP, which comprised $9.5 billion in funding from the CARES Act that Congress accepted in late April, and one other $6.5 billion from the USDA.
Nationwide Farmers Union President Rob Larew mentioned the extra help “is completely essential” however should appropriate flaws within the preliminary design that favored massive farms over smaller ones and “despatched hundreds of thousands of dollars to foreign-owned operations.”
Within the second spherical, it’s “simply as essential that it’s distributed pretty and equitably,” Larew mentioned in a press release.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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