Don’t expect more trade aid, Sonny Perdue tells farmers

Last year, our biggest soybean customer stopped buying. Record downpours set crop farming back decades. And yet, it was the most profitable time for farmers in years. How’s that? Government aid, of course—the Trump administration ended up showering American farmers with over $22 billion in trade relief and disaster payments. Just don’t expect that to happen again. As the United States and China work towards a new trade deal, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said that another round of trade aid payments this year is unlikely. Farmers tell UPI they’re skeptical the deal will get done—so the taxpayer cash nozzle may not shut off just yet.