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Help is on the way

An ag policy expert says he’s closely watching for more details from the Trump administration on ad-hoc assistance.

“There’s no doubt in my mind there’s going to be help coming on the way and it’s going to be significant.”

Joe Outlaw with Texas A&M University says the exact details remain unclear, but “the reality is somewhere between $12 and $15 billion at least, is going to come to producers, hopefully either before the end of the year or right after the first of the year.”

The USDA has previously said it would provide more information about ad-hoc farmer assistance when the U.S. government reopens.

Outlaw says it’s possible some crops will receive more trade-related assistance from the administration than others, due to tariff impacts.

“I don’t think it’s unfair to say that soybeans would be the most impacted. Then the next question would be who’s next? And it’s probably cotton, followed by sorghum, followed by rice.”

He says the tariffs and market losses stacked on top of high input costs are making this the toughest time for many farmers in his 40 years on the job.

“I have talked to way too many producers who are doing terribly right now. I don’t think it matters where the help comes from. I think it matters that it’s happening.”

Brownfield interviewed Outlaw at the Missouri Governor’s Ag Conference in mid-Missouri.