THE US LAUNCHES A THIRD LAYER OF COVID-19 SUPPORT TO AGRICULTURE

Readers might think that they have already read about this, but the fact is that in the US a new layer of support to help agriculture cope with the Covid-19 crisis was launched this week. This support package is the third since the beginning of the crisis, so yes you have read about increased support in the US but you’ve not read about the latest.

This package consist of an additional $ 470 million for commodity purchases, financed by customs revenues. The biggest share goes to dairy products with a $ 120 million allocation. Potatoes, turkey, chicken, pork, come after in a long list that includes a variety of fruits and some fish products.

It is worth recapping how much support US farmers have had so far to cope with the Covid-19 crisis. First came an increase of the main support programmes war chest of $ 14 billion. Second a $ 19 billion package consisting of $ 16 billion direct payments and $ 3 billion commodity purchases. And latest the $ 470 million this week package. In total a staggering $ 33.47 billion, or slightly more than 30 billion euros.

In the EU? The specific Covid-19 support package is estimated worth a paltry 80 million euros.

Comparing per farmer and per hectare Covid-19 support in the US and in the EU, in euros, says it all:

• US: €15 415 per farmer; €73 per hectare
• EU: €8 per farmer;  €5 per hectare

O artigo foi publicado originalmente em Farm Europe.