The Trump administration’s 12-billion-dollar plan to help farmers hurt by the president’s trade tariffs didn’t get very good marks from either side of the political aisle during a Tuesday afternoon debate at Farmfest. Sixth District Republican Congressman Tom Emmer says the 12-billion-dollar number sounds good, but why not do things that stimulate the marketplace? “2.5 million bushels in surplus, corn surplus. Why don’t we talk about buying that and blending ethanol year-round at the RVP-15 year-round?” he asks.
Seventh District Democratic Congressman Collin Peterson says Trump’s plan could cause as many problems as it solves. “It’s hard to be against helping farmers ’cause they’re having a tough time,” Peterson says, “but we spent 20 some years trying to get off of ad hoc disaster-type payments,… and now this is going back to it.”