New trade mitigation plan

The USDA has announced a second package of financial relief programs for farmers who've been hit hard by the trade wars between the US and China.

USDA Chief Economist Rob Johansson says the package is bit more generous this time.

"But we are looking back a number of years to look at what China has purchased from us in the past and we are bringing that into our baseline to apply those tariffs to. So that does get us to a slightly higher number than we had last year."

Colorado Corn Administrative Committee and Colorado Corn farmers had asked if ...

"The US trade representatives would consider looking at the issue from a broader perspective than what they did the last time when those payments were issued at a penny a bushel for corn.

Colorado Corn's Kim Reddin.

Producers of alfalfa hay, barley, canola, corn, wheat and more than 20 other crops will receive a payment based on a single county rate multiplied by a farm's total plantings to those crops in aggregate in 2019. Those per acre payments are not dependent on which of those crops are planted in 2019, and therefore will not distort planting decisions.

Dairy producers will receive a per hundredweight payment on production history and hog farmers will get a payment based on inventory for a time yet to be specified.