Indiana farmers received nearly $600 million from the United States Department of Agriculture during the first round of payments from the Market Facilitation Program that seeks to minimize the impact of retaliatory tariffs from the Chinese government.
More than 35,000 farmers applied for the program last year.
Jackson County corn and soybean farmer Ben Thompson says the payments didn’t come close to making up for the losses he suffered from the trade war.
"When it comes down to a per acre basis, it isn’t like I’m going to go out and buy a Mercedes or anything like that," he says. "The payment. It’s a small, small fraction of my total revenue."
This year, farmers have until Dec. 6 to apply for the second round of market facilitation payments. Indiana’s office of the United States Department of Agriculture says 43,000 Hoosier farmers have already applied this year, and they expect that number to rise.
