Show Me the Stimulus: Ag to Snag $13B 💵

→ NASA & USDA buddy up. The two groups pinky promised to fill research gaps that could help both Earth and space-based agriculture development. Everything from plant research on the International Space Station to improving Earth observation systems for agtech is on the table.

→ Potatoes' pandemic problem. A 13% ding in foodservice sales couldn’t be offset by the 9% spike in retail sales for the 2019-2020 potato marketing year. Potatoes USA noted a 5% decline in total use across all sectors plus a dip in exports.

→ A dry spell gets...drier. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is blaming La Niña for the ongoing drought in the western half of the United States. Forecasts point to a 95% chance that dry conditions persist through Q1 2021.

→ Animal activist punks Fox Business. After being duped that she was speaking to Smithfield CEO Dennis Organ, host Maria Bartiromo apologized to viewers at the end of her Wednesday show last week. The CEO imposter was a leading activist from anti-animal agriculture group Direct Action Everywhere.

→ Pomegranate waste stirs up innovation challenge. The Wonderful Co. is offering up to $1 million for a solution to a pomegranate problem. An environmentally friendly fix is needed to deal with the 50,000 tons of rind, pith, and seeds left over from the juicing process annually.

→ Hormel pumps out new pork-producing facility. Papillion, Nebraska is home to the new Hormel food factory where salami and dry sausage products will be cranked out. State-of-the-art auto-guided vehicles for transporting products were included in the site.

Better late than never, America’s $900 billion stimulus package was gifted via President Trump’s signature on Sunday evening.

This was no sure bet. Even after gaining bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, President Trump took to Twitter last Tuesday and didn’t mince words. His take: the 5,600-page bill was a ‘disgrace.’

But with a government shutdown looming and his Republican allies amping up pressure, Trump caved and signed the bill.

So what does this mean for the ag world? Let’s dive in.

Big picture: $13 billion, about 1.4% of the entire package, is headed to food and agriculture. Most of that will flow from the Secretary of Ag’s office, a similar set up to prior COVID-19 relief programs.

The deets on the deal:

→ $20-per-acre payments for row crop growers, estimated to collectively top $5 billion

→ $3 billion for livestock farmers who euthanized animals due to supply chain snafus and canceled contracts

→ $870 million for dairy producers via the Dairy Margin Coverage program

Other line items to note were $225 million to specialty crop producers, a 15% bump in SNAP benefits, and $300 million to aid fisheries.

What’s next: It has been a record year for agriculture aid with a final tab landing north of $50 billion. 2021 will begin with a sprint to get this new cash in producers’ pockets.