USDA assisting growers through Cotton Ginning Cost Share

Under the programme, cotton producers may receive a cost share payment, which is based on a producer’s 2016 cotton acres reported to FSA multiplied by 20 per cent of the average ginning cost for each production region. However, these payments are capped at $40,000 per producer.

“America’s cotton producers have now faced four years of financial stress, just like the rest of our major commodities, but with a weaker safety net,” said US secretary of agriculture Sonny Perdue at the 66th Annual Mid-South Farm and Gin Show.

“In particular, cotton producers confront high input and infrastructure costs, which leaves them more financially leveraged than most of their colleagues. That economic burden has been felt by the entire cotton market, including the gins, cooperatives, marketers, cottonseed crushers, and the rural communities that depend upon their success.

“I hope this (the CGCS programme) will be a needed help as the rural cotton-growing communities stretching from the Southeastern US to the San Joaquin Valley of California prepare to plant. This infusion gives them one last opportunity for assistance until their Farm Bill safety net becomes effective,” Perdue added.

To qualify for the CGCS programme, established under the statutory authority of the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, cotton producers must meet conservation compliance provisions, be actively engaged in farming and have adjusted gross incomes not exceeding $900,000, the USDA said in a press release. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India