FSA Administrator Fordyce Visits North Dakota

A high-level government official was accompanied by Senator John Hoeven in a visit to North Dakota on Monday.
Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce accompanied Hoeven to the state to take part in a roundtable discussion, which included Hoeven, Fordyce and North Dakota producers. The purpose of the roundtable discussion was to talk about the next round of Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments.
Fordyce tells WZFG's Scott Hennen that North Dakotans had a similar message than his other roundtables, but that 'North Dakota has some unique crops and situations with adverse weather.' He says he'll take the discussions back to Washington, D.C., where they will discuss and, hopefully, come to a conclusion to address the topics discussed in Monday's roundtable.
Senator John Hoeven says farmers are hurting right now. He says they have been targeted by China, due to the trade battle. He says the long term objective is to get to the markets on a 'free and fair basis.'
The original round was based on harvest numbers, where the second round is based on a formula that creates unique county rates, based on cropping and yield histories. Each county will have its own rate, Fordyce said.
Producers can access their county payment rate at www.farmers.gov/mfp. Producers will receive the greater of either 50 percent of their payment or a $15 per acre minimum in the initial payment coming out this month. 
Producers who planted cover crops on prevent plant acres are eligible to receive a $15 per acre MFP payment, in addition to their prevent plant insurance coverage. Also, USDA continues looking into providing additional coverage for prevent plant acres using funding from the disaster supplemental appropriations law passed earlier this year. Hoeven has been working to assist producers with prevent plant acres, including securing approval from USDA for producers to hay or graze cover crops on prevent plant acres beginning on September 1 in 2019.