Market News & Headlines >> Deadline for MFP Sign-up now Feb. 14

U.S. farmers now have until Feb. 14 to apply for payments under the Market Facilitation Program, designed to offset the negative impact of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. crop and livestock prices, USDA said on Monday. 

"If you are a farmer or rancher whose commodities have been directly impacted by tariffs, you now have until February 14 to submit your application," USDA said in a tweet. 

The original deadline to sign up for the program was Jan. 15, but the application and payment processes were delayed by the partial government shutdown that ended on Friday and USDA announced on Jan. 8 that it was extending the deadline by the number of days that USDA offices were closed. 

USDA expects direct payments to farmers under the program to total $9.567 billion, with around $7.3 billion of that total going to soybean farmers, the hardest hit from the trade war. The USDA program includes an additional $1.2 billion in food purchases, and around $200 million to develop foreign markets, bringing the total estimated aid to just below $11 billion. 

 A USDA representative on Monday told Reuters News Service he agency had already paid out $5.94 billion to farmers under the MFP program as of Jan. 28.