US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is urging farmers to plant for the market and plant what works best on their farm, regardless of government assistance programs. Perdue issued a statement referring to $16 billion in Market Facilitation Program payments and another $3 billion in disaster aid. The secretary says farmers should not wait for an announcement to make production decisions. The USDA cannot make MFP payments to producers for unplanted acreage, according to Secretary Perdue’s statement, however he says the agency is exploring legal flexibilities to make minimal payments to farmers who were prevented from planting and chose to plant MFP-eligible cover crops.
