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House bill would add $50B in farm aid, prevent payment limits

Legislation introduced in the U.S. House calls for an additional 50 billion dollars in aid to farmers in the next COVID-19 economic relief bill.

The money would augment the 23.5 billion dollars in ag assistance contained in the CARES Act passed by Congress in late March. 

The bill would also prevent the USDA from imposing limits on payments farmers can receive under the coronavirus ag assistance programs. There have been reports that USDA plans to cap direct payments under the program at 125-thousand dollars per commodity and 250-thousand dollars for all commodities. 

A group of U.S. Senators has also weighed in the payment limits issue. In a letter to President Trump, the 28 senators urged that the payment limits for livestock, dairy and specialty crops be eliminated before the final program details are announced.