Administration releases details of COVID-19 aid to farmers

The Trump administration unveiled the ground rules Tuesday for distributing $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers feeling financial pain from COVID-19, but several agriculture groups say producers may need more federal aid in the future.

The Agriculture Department will use $9.5 billion provided by Congress to pay farmers and ranchers facing price declines and $6.5 billion from the Commodity Credit Corporation to make direct payments to farmers hurt by market disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The department also adjusted the limits for payments to individual recipients.

The details come a month after Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue broadly