Farmers rely on federal handouts

By

State News

August 9, 2019 - 4:23 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sixth-generation Kansas farmer Charles Atkinson said the millions of dollars in trade aid the federal government has funneled to local farmers doesn’t fully make up for what growers have lost in recent years.

“But it will help,” he said, noting that many farmers are struggling to turn a profit. “I’m not going to say they (government payments) were the savior, but with margins as thin as they are we could have a lot of farms out of business.”

The bailouts were designed to help farmers who were already weathering low prices on commodities such as soybeans before President Donald Trump’s trade wars sunk prices even lower. The administration has so far mailed checks totaling about $8.6 billion to U.S. farmers to help make up for lower market prices of 2018 crops.

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