Rollins: Bridge Payment For Farmers Coming Next Week
Brownfield
Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says details of a bridge payment for farmers will be announced with President Trump sometime next week.
During the President’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, she said producers are under extreme economic strain due to record-high input costs like interest rates, labor, fertilizer and fuel. “These are massive, massive numbers that will take some time to get out from under.”
Minnesota Farmers Union President Gary Wertish tells Brownfield tariffs have made the situation worse. “Something needs to be done. There is a crisis in rural America, especially on the ag side.”
Nebraska farmer Quentin Connealy says a payment could offset fertilizer prices. “It will help for sure, but you got to make sure it goes toward the right year to keep your finances in order, but talking with lots of farmers around here, I don’t think it’s quite as doom and gloom as we had originally planned.”
Rollins said increasing market access will help strengthen the ag economy and reduce dependance on future ad-hoc assistance. “For so long our farmers, many of them, have been farming for government checks instead of moving their product around the world. These trade deals change that forever.”
Rollins and the President did not provide any additional details about the package.