A few farmers get huge USDA relief payments while many struggle for pennies (The Counter) 

The Counter (USA) published an article on farm subsidies in the US stating that when the coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools, restaurants, and many distributors in March, the disruption dealt a huge blow to farmers, who lost contracts overnight and were forced to let produce rot in the field. Congress allocated funding for agriculture through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP. Much of these subsidies are related to ongoing trade negotiations with China and the effect trade talks have had on U.S. farmers. Senior Research Fellow Joseph Glauber said, “The bad thing about [the trade mitigation program] is that it set an awful precedent, in the sense that these payments are so much larger than the farm bill payments to begin with. I think Congress has sort of abdicated its responsibilities.” Republished in The Food Economy (