The trade war between the U.S. and China has had a negative effect on agriculture as a whole, according to an agricultural economics expert.
Dr. Eric J. Belasco, with the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics at Montana State University, said the trade war has affected many crops.
"First, the trade war with China has (without a doubt) had a negative impact on agriculture, especially for crops like soybeans, pork, cotton and sorghum," Belasco said in an interview with Big Sky News. "Second, I’m not sure whether these payments are 'economically necessary,' but the payments have helped to maintain near average levels for net farm income in a year when prices are mostly down, weather has been mostly unfavorable and exports have shrunk."
Dr. Eric J. Belasco
| Montana State University website
Belasco said disaster programs like this have a long history of combining politics and farm policy, and this particular case doesn’t seem to be different.
"I think most farmers would much prefer their long-term prospects from re-opening trade relations than these payouts," Belasco said.
The federal government provided financial relief for farmers nationally in the amount of $14.3 billion. In Montana alone, farmers received $92.5 million in subsidies, Environmental Working Group reported. Approximately 61 percent of farms did not collect the subsidy payments, the USDA said.
"President Trump has great affection for America's farmers and ranchers. He knows that they're fighting the fight and that they're on the front lines," Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue told reporters while announcing the aid package, NPR reported.
Several studies have shown that the payouts farms can receive are about twice of what their actual harm was that they suffered during the trade war, NPR reported. Thousands of farms got more than $100,000 each, while bigger farms received bigger payments.
The USDA hasn't announced if it will do more trade-related payments in 2020, NPR reported.
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