News

Help is on the way, but more details needed

Two state ag leaders say they’re glad to see USDA considering all options to help farmers navigate a tough ag economy, including ad-hoc assistance.

Wes Ward, the ag secretary in Arkansas, and past president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, tells Brownfield “when it comes to ad-hoc, it’s a question of what does it look like, how big is it and when will it come?”

Ward says farmers in Arkansas are hurting.

“With our row crop industry, we’re looking at about a $1.5 billion economic loss.”

Thom Petersen, the ag commissioner in Minnesota, says it’s also tough for crop farmers in his state.

“We can see the signs. Bankruptcies are high,” says Petersen. “I think Arkansas leads the nation in farm bankruptcies, but in Minnesota, our mediations last month were four times what they were compared to August of last year.”

Petersen says it’s also unclear how any new ad-hoc assistance would be funded.

“Some of the pots of money where we had dollars before, now don’t have those dollars. We’re going to need Congressional action to maybe appropriate that money. It could take awhile.”

He says any ad-hoc assistance or new trade deal is needed quickly.

Petersen and Ward both attended the recent NASDA meeting in Arkansas.