American Farmers Set to Get $4.7 Billion in First Round of Aid
- Agriculture groups bemoan lack of progress in tariff battles
- Payments possible next month as harvests, elections near
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U.S. farmers will get $4.7 billion in a first round of direct government aid to compensate for market losses caused by retaliatory tariffs from China and other trading partners. The move was largely bemoaned by agriculture groups even as they welcomed the assistance.
Soybean growers, the hardest hit, will get $3.6 billion, according to the plan the government released Monday. Pork producers will receive the second-highest payments, totaling $290 million, and dairy farmers are also eligible for assistance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The sorghum, corn, wheat and cotton industries will receive aid as well. Farm groups said the plan would aid producers even as they called for an end to the trade war.