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Ag economists sound the alarm on delayed farm relief payments

A pair of ag economists at Ohio State University say farmers need emergency assistance sooner rather than later.

Ian Sheldon says the proposed $10 to $15 billion in economic relief may not be enough.

“That nowhere near matches what was handed out back in 2018 and 2019 when we hit $24 to $25 billion,” he says. “We’re hearing about more farm bankruptcies this year. Ag lenders are starting to worry about non-performing loans on balance sheets.”

He says it’s unclear where the funding will come from.

“The Commodity Credit Corporation is short on dollars right now,” he says. “I think there’s potentially an issue as to whether the executive branch has Congressional authority to use tariff revenue in this way. We’ll have to see if that’s the case or not.”

Carl Zulauf tells Brownfield, “There’s an increasing recognition that the delay in the program payments by commodity program is something that has to be thought about, discussed, and potentially changed.”

Both say ad-hoc assistance isn’t a long-term solution and farmers reliable market access for their products.

Although the Farm Service Agency has now reopened, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins has said farmer assistance will not be distributed until the government reopens.

AUDIO: Ian Sheldon

AUDIO: Carl Zulauf