02.03.20

Hoeven: USDA Issuing Third Tranche of 2019 MFP Payments

Producers Will Begin Seeing Payments at the End of the Week

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today issued the following statement after the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the third tranche of 2019 Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments will begin going out at the end of the week. Hoeven has been urging USDA to provide this tranche of trade assistance to assist producers impacted during trade negotiations. 

As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, Hoeven worked to secure the 2019 round of trade assistance under MFP, which was provided in three tranches, and to ensure coverage for all Title I crops, including soybeans, wheat, corn, canola and others. Further, the senator worked to replenish the program’s funding in legislation passed by Congress.   

“We’ve made real progress in securing markets for our producers over the past several weeks with the signing of USMCA, the phase-one agreement with China, and the agreements with the EU and Japan,” said Hoeven. “We appreciate the Administration’s work to get this MFP payment out, which will help provide an important bridge for our producers while the trade agreements and agriculture purchases get going.”

In addition to working to provide trade assistance, Hoeven has been helping to assist farmers and ranchers challenged by adverse weather. The senator secured additional disaster assistance measures as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Agriculture Appropriations legislation that was passed and signed into law in December. The funding legislation: 

  • Provides $1.5 billion in disaster assistance, which is being reprogrammed from unspent FY2017 disaster funding. This funding is in addition to the $3 billion in disaster assistance approved by Congress in May. 
  • Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make disaster payments to eligible sugar cooperatives.
  • Expands program eligibility to cover quality losses, in addition to production losses. 
  • Clarifies eligible disaster events by including losses related to excess moisture and D3 drought.

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