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Analyst says government aid could play larger part in post-COVID ag landscape

An analyst with Rabo AgriFinance suggests government payments will be more of a factor as farmers navigate a post-COVID-19 landscape.

Steve Nicholson says prices over the last 10 to 15 years have been mostly profitable, so the government has not had to intervene.

“Now that the government is, farmers are going to have to be more conscious of that, also understand what his payments are going to be, and make sure he understands that in the context of his income statement.”

During a webinar Tuesday, he said that will have implications on ag bankers as well.

“We have to understand as well to make sure that we can have those intelligent conversations with producers, but we all have to be better versed in what those payments are going to be and how that’s going to impact our income.”

The government has come to the aid of farmers several times since 2018, first in the form of Market Facilitation Program payments to compensate losses from trade disruptions.  And more recently checks have been issued through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to offset lost revenue stemming from the pandemic.

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