Region’s farmers miss out on aid package

Some score big with Trump subsidies, but not in Central Florida

When the Trump administration announced a $12 billion aid package for farmers struggling because of the trade war with China, the payments were capped.

But many large farming operations had no trouble finding legal ways around them, records provided to the AP under the Freedom of Information Act show.

Central Florida farmers, however, did not share in the windfall, receiving just $72,000 from the package. In Florida, a total of $4.4 million was given out, with more than half going to cotton farmers.

The government paid nearly $2.8 million to a Missouri soybean operation registered as three entities at the same address. More than $900,000 went to five other farm businesses, in Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee and two in Texas.

Three other farming operations collected more than $800,000, and 16 others collected over $700,000.

Pennsylvania farmers received a total of $50 million from the aid package. Farmers in Lancaster, York and Berks counties received the most payments, with Lancaster farmers taking in $5 million.

In Central Florida, farmers in three counties — Volusia, Brevard and Polk — received a total of about $72,000 in aid.

In Volusia, VoLa Salle Farms, received $11,345 for its soybean and corn crops. In Brevard, farmer James Darren Jerrigan garnered nearly $49,000 for his corn and soybeans.

The rest went to farmers in Polk who grow soybeans and cotton and raise dairy cows, the AP analysis of the data found.

There were no subsidies reported in Orange, Seminole, Lake or Osceola counties.

Recipients defended the payouts, saying they didn’t cover their losses from the trade war and they were legally entitled to them.

Department of Agriculture rules let farms file claims for multiple family members or other partners who meet the department’s definition of being “actively engaged in farming.”

But U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who has long fought for subsidy limits, and other critics say it’s the latest example of how loopholes let large farms collect far more than the supposed caps.

Grassley said in a statement to AP that some of the nation’s largest farms are receiving huge subsidies “through underhanded legal tricks. They’re getting richer off the backs of taxpayers while young and beginning farmers are priced out of the profession. This

needs to end. The Department of Agriculture needs to reevaluate its rules for awarding federal funds and conduct more thorough oversight of where it’s funneling taxpayer dollars.”

USDA officials said they believe its rules are being followed and that procedures are in place to audit recipients.