Details on MFP Payments

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue last week announced the details and payment rates for the 2019 Market Facilitation Payments (MFP) program. The USDA calculated payment rates for each county based on the mix of eligible commodities grown in each county, the planted acreage of those commodities, and the impact of trade disruption on those commodities.

A producer’s payment will equal the calculated single county payment rate multiplied by the number of acres planted by the producer to eligible commodities. Commodities produced in Nebraska eligible for payments include alfalfa, corn, dairy, dried beans, dry peas, hogs, lentils, oats, rye, small and large chickpeas, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, and wheat. The map below shows the payment rates on crop acres for each Nebraska county. Dairy producers will receive a payment of $0.20 per hundredweight and hog producers will receive a payment of $11 per head.

Sign-up for the program begins July 29 and ends December 6. Producers with prevented planting acres are eligible to receive a payment of $15 per acre if they plant a cover crop by August 1.  MFP payments will be made in up to three installments. The first installment will consist of 50 percent of a producer’s calculated payment or $15 per acre, whichever is higher, and will be made in mid-to-late August. The second and third installments will be contingent upon an evaluation of market conditions and trade opportunities. If conditions warrant, a second round of payments will be made in November and a third in early January of next year.

County payment rates in Nebraska range from $15-$74 per acre. Because soybeans have been the most impacted by trade disputes, particularly with China, counties with a greater portion of their acres planted to soybeans will receive greater payments. In total, roughly 17 million acres in Nebraska are eligible to receive MFP payments. For more information on the program, go to: www.farmers.gov/manage/mfp.

Source: USDA, Farm Service Agency