US to announce farm relief plan in early December, Rollins says

The Trump administration intends to release its long-awaited plan to offer relief for beleaguered farmers early next month, US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday.

Administration officials had teased an aid program for farmers for more than a month, but said an announcement was delayed by the government shutdown. With agencies’ funding restored, work on a proposal has moved forward, Rollins said in a brief interview with Bloomberg News.

“We’ve been able to really analyze, build our formulas around what is happening. We’re obviously in a different place today than we were a couple of months ago. Having said that, we expect to release and announce that the first week of December,” Rollins said.

Rollins did not offer details of the relief plan.

Agricultural communities, which voted overwhelmingly for Trump in last year’s election, have been crushed as export markets dried up and several federal safety-net programs have shrunk during his second term. The president’s trade war on virtually all major economies, and their retaliatory actions, have exacerbated farmers’ woes — most notably China’s decision to cut off purchases of American soybeans.

Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume soybean buys as part of a broader trade truce brokered with Trump. Beijing has booked at least 10 more soybean cargoes, lifting total purchases thus far this season to more than 2 million tons. That brings the nation closer to the target it was said to have agreed to in last month’s trade talks.

Even though the soybean trade has begun to ramp up, Rollins said it was still appropriate to offer relief funds to farmers.

“The row crop industry especially has just gone through some tough times over the last number of years. The president committed to ensuring that — I don’t know that we’ll be able to make them whole, but at least some relief as they’re looking to figure out their planting for next year,” Rollins said.