USDA is increasing the amount of funding available for the Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP) and expects to issue approximately $62.8 million in pandemic assistance payments to hog producers starting this week.
“We appreciate FSA’s commitment to providing assistance to those pork producers hit hard by the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic,” Terry Wolters, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president and owner of Stoney Creek Farms in Pipestone, Minn., said in a statement. “Producers forced into spot market hog sales are still challenged by the market disruptions of COVID-19, and these funds will contribute to the ongoing recovery of the U.S. pork industry.”
SMHPP assists eligible producers who sold hogs through a spot market sale from April 16, 2020, through Sept. 1, 2020. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) accepted SMHPP applications through April 29, 2022.
“In order to provide more targeted support to hog producers affected by the pandemic, FSA was able to increase funding for SMHPP to provide full payments to producers instead of applying a payment factor,” FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux said in a release. “We are pleased to be able to provide more equitable opportunities for hog producers who were hard-hit by the pandemic.”
USDA explained that SMHPP payments will be calculated by multiplying the number of head of eligible hogs, not to exceed 10,000 head, by the payment rate of $54 per head. FSA originally planned to apply a payment factor if calculated payments exceeded the allocated $50 million in pandemic assistance funds for SMHPP, USDA noted.
Payments are not expected to be factored due to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s decision to increase funding enabling producers to receive 100% of the calculated SMHPP payment. There is no per person or legal entity payment limitation on SMHPP payments.
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