USDA Extends Deadline For Farmers To Certify Their Production For Market Facilitation Program

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today that the department will extend the deadline from May 1 to May 17 for farmers to certify their production receipts for the Market Facilitation Program.

The Market Facilitation Program (MFP), provides direct payments to eligible producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy, hogs, shelled almonds, and fresh sweet cherries. The program was created in response to farmers having their commodities impacted by foreign tariffs, resulting in the loss of traditional export markets.

Farmers have already submitted applications to be eligible for payments for MFP, but were given until May 1st to submit production evidence to the USDA, but that deadline has been extended to May 17th.

“In my district and across the Midwest, it’s easy to see that weather and other conditions have prevented many farmers from getting their 2018 crop out of the ground. Many of them have raised their concerns with me and this extension is something I’ve been pushing USDA to do,” U.S. Representative, Collin C. Peterson, said. “As we’re looking at another round of snow in some parts of Minnesota, this gives those folks more time to finish and certify their harvest from 2018. While these payments are welcome, the Administration needs to stop pretending that the trade bailout will somehow make up for the long-term losses with trade partners like China.”