Source: Ellyn Ferguson, ROLL CALL, 4/23/20


The top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee appeared open, but wary, Thursday to the Agriculture Department possibly raising the caps on the amount individual farmers and ranchers could receive from $16 billion in direct payments to offset sales and markets lost to COVID-19 economic disruptions.  Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow noted the USDA eased payment limits in 2019, when the department made trade-aid payments to farmers and ranchers. She has criticized the fairness of the distributions, saying that smaller farm operations and producers that grow specialty crops did not benefit.

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