While payment amounts for the Market Facilitation Program ? a federal assistance program for farmers hurt by the current trade wars ? were released last week for each county nationwide, it remains to be seen whether the payments will be as much as last year.
This year?s MFP has some big differences when compared to 2018. While last year?s payments for crops were based on actual bushels multiplied by specified national rates, this year?s will be based on per-acre planted.
According to Dillon Rapp, an extension agricultural economist with the Kansas Farm Management Association based in Chanute, this year?s formula avoids favoring specific crops by taking into consideration the mix of crops found within each county.
?The theory is that counties with a higher proportion of crops negatively impacted by tariffs and trade concerns will have a comparatively higher payment,? Rapp said. ?It doesn?t really matter what was planted as long as it is a non-specialized crop. Non-specialized crops are corn, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, I think I even saw milo on the list. They did this so everyone didn?t run out and throw beans down.?
Lightning strikes near a cornfield on 1300 and Lincoln Road in Iola this morning after a thunderstorm. Crops like this one will receive a Market Facilitation Program payment of $30.50 per acre in August. Additional payments are expected in November and January. REGISTER/ERIC SPRUILL
Allen County farmers made out fairly well, with a county payment rate of $61 per acre planted. Farmers are expected to receive half of this payment in mid to late August, meaning they would receive $30.50 per acre planted. The USDA will then re-evaluate as the year progresses and make two more potential payments if deemed necessary.
?What we are seeing is bean intensive areas are receiving higher payments. The three counties I deal with all received in the $40s and low $50s, so Allen County came out pretty well,? Rapp said.
What the payment plan ensures is that every farmer, regardless of state or county receives at least $15. In areas such as Oklahoma, where wheat is one of the main crops, the MFP allocation is expected to be in the lower to mid $20s, meaning they would take a payment of $15.
?I?ve been crunching the numbers and right now it looks like payments will end up being a little down,? Rapp said. ?However, if they decide to do the full payment in November and January, they could come out a little better than they did the year before.?
The MFP provided $12 billion in aid to farmers, which included direct payments, surplus food purchases and market promotion efforts.
According to Rapp, data from the Southeast Kansas Farm Management Association shows that farms located in 20 counties in southeast Kansas had an average net income of $129,983, including the MFP payment. While that is a considerable increase from 2016 and 2017, which were at $110,402 and $106,660 respectively, if farmers had not received the federal subsidy, it would have been a much different year.
Rapp said the average payment for farmers in the southeast region of the state was $44,614.
Without that payment the average net income would have been $85,369, the lowest since 2006.
