Ag producers apply for tariff-offset payments

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma farmers and ranchers started applying Tuesday for federal payments through the Market Facilitation Program to help offset losses incurred as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariff war.

Many of those ag producers are of two minds, torn between appreciation and frustration, said Larry Sanders, a professor and economist at Oklahoma State University.

“They’re supportive of the current administration, which is a matter of politics, as well as the policy of free trade,” Sanders said. “But they’re finding politics and policy aren’t always the same thing.”

The Market Facilitation Program, or MFP, was one of the three funding mechanisms cited with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision in July to distribute $12 billion from the Commodity Credit Corp., a U.S. Department of Agriculture arm founded in 1933. The CCC has authority to borrow up to $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury to stabilize, support and protect farm income and prices.

That’s the goal now, as world markets are still shaken up by Trump’s tariff changes and ag producers at home see their commodity prices drop.

Oklahoma farmer Jimmie Musick of Sentinel is also president of the National Association of Wheat Growers. He wrote in a prepared statement that his organization stands behind Trump’s intentions, with a caveat of pride and fiscal responsibility.

“NAWG appreciates the administration’s steps to hold China accountable for unfair trade practices, but tariffs and the subsequent self-inflicted need to provide aid aren’t the answer,” Musick said. “Farmers across the country want trade, not aid, especially wheat growers.”

About half of all U.S. wheat is exported, which means trade deals and establishing new global markets are priorities for the industry. Since Trump launched his tariff attacks, China hasn’t purchased any wheat from the United States. The U.S. industry expects to see a 75-cent-per-bushel price decrease as a result.

Amy Hagerman, assistant professor of agricultural and food policy at OSU, said ag producers can apply for MFP funds through Jan. 15, with payments issued on the first 50 percent of the producer’s total production for 2018. Some of the payment rates the USDA’s Farm Service Agency published include 86 cents per bushel for sorghum, 14 cents per bushel for wheat and $8 per head of hogs. The total resulting payments for the industry is projected to reach up to $4.6 billion.

Sanders said the issue might become important in upcoming midterm elections as Congress struggles to settle on an omnibus agriculture funding bill. Some of the costs associated with tariff pushback by other countries might be leveraged into that legislation, he said.

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