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USDA to announce Farmer Bridge Assistance payment rates next week

The Under Secretary of Farm Production and Conservation at the USDA says payment rates for the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program will be announced next week.

Richard Fordyce says acreage data is factored into the payment rates, so farmers who haven’t submitted an acreage report to their local Farm Service Agency office have until Friday to do that.

“We have formulas that are setting the payment rates for the individual crops, but we have to know what that universe is so we know how many acres are going to be entered into the program in order to fine tune those payment rates.”

There is $12 billion available in the bridge program for farmers. Fordyce says the USDA knows more aid is likely needed and there’s been high-level conversations with Congress.

“I mean, it’ll be up to Congress to do what they’re going to do if they’re going to do anything.”

He says the farmers who qualify for the USDA’s bridge program should receive a payment by the end of February.

Hear more from Fordyce in Inside D.C. – Aid for Agriculture – Part 2.