The ag department authorizes up to US$12 billion in federal aid
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Two U.S. federal politicians joined thousands of American farmers in applying for USDA assistance.
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) hope to get a portion of the USDA’s US$12 billion federal assistance package. The financial assistance is in response to the estimated US$11-billion economic impact of tariffs on American agriculture.
Grassley owns about 750 acres of land in Iowa that he operates with his son. Chuck Grassley provides half of the seed, fertilizer and crop protection products for the farm, the Des Moines Register reports. He also receives half of the corn and soybean harvests.
Tester grows wheat in Montana. A “lack of access to markets” prevented him from selling about half of his 2017 wheat crop, Marnee Banks, a spokeswoman, told the Washington Post in an email.
The Senators’ combined net worth could indicate they do not need federal assistance.
Grassley’s net worth in 2015 was over US$3.3 million. And Tester’s net worth that same year was over US$3.9 million, the Center for Responsive Politics says. Each Senator receives an annual salary of US$174,000, the United States Senate website says.
But some U.S. farmers feel that any commercial farmer, regardless of their personal worth, should be able to apply for and receive the USDA’s help.
“As long as they’re farmers, they should be treated like any other producer,” Alan Moore, a soybean farmer and director with the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee, told Farms.com.
“I don’t have an issue with them applying for assistance,” Andrew Kimmel, a corn grower from Shelocta, Pa., told Farms.com. “They’re both farmers, so they should have the same opportunities as the rest of us.”
The federal government has already distributed about US$25.8 million to American farmers, the Washington Post reported.
Chuck Grassley, left, and Jon Tester