By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Wisconsin lawmaker is alleging that some of President Trump’s trusted campaign advisors have received more than $2 million in questionable Market Facilitation Program (MFP) payments.

In a recent letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Kind asked for an explanation for why the payments, intended for farmers impacted by trade disputes, were made to 15 members of an agribusiness council that advised Trump “while family farmers in Wisconsin got next to nothing.”

On Sept. 30, a representative of Kind’s office in Washington said Perdue had not responded to Kind’s inquiry, nor to an earlier letter of inquiry sent in August. There was no update from Kind’s office  by press time.

“I am concerned that certain insiders are finding themselves on the fast track to receiving bailout money, while many family farmers find themselves on the outside of financial assistance to weather the President’s trade war,” Kind said on Sept. 13.

The payments to members of Trump’s Agriculture and Rural Advisory Committee were disclosed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which obtained disbursement records from USDA through a Freedom of Information Act request. While many of the payments to the group fell well below the $125,000 per-producer limit set on MFP payments, some campaign advisors received far more.

These recipients include Charlotte Kelley, a Burlison, Tenn., cotton grower, warehouse owner, and former county Republican chair, who received $874,842 in MFP payments; and Kip Tom, an Indiana corn and soybean producer now serving as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, whose Tom Farms Partners business received $509,342.

Jack Dalrymple, the former Republican governor of North Dakota, received $256,668 in MFP payments, while Ron Heck of Iowa, a past president of the American Soybean Assoc., received $168,147.

In addition, the EWG asserts that billions of dollars in MFP payments have flowed into the bank accounts of those living in the nation’s largest cities and to mega-farms owned by America’s richest farmers, and not to small-scale struggling family or minority farmers.

“For 18 months now, farmers in Wisconsin have been dealing with the repercussions from the President’s reckless trade war. This trade aid package was supposed to solely provide short-term relief to farmers impacted by retaliatory trade actions to the President’s tariffs. Instead it’s being used to help those who serve to advance the President’s own political agenda,” King charged.

His earlier letter to Perdue expressed concern that, according to reports, the top 1 percent of large farms received an average of $183,331 each in trade aid, while the bottom 80 percent received, on average, less than $5,000. Additionally, 82 large farms received more than $500,000, and 95 percent of all payments went to the top 50 percent of farms, Kind alleged.

In addition, more than $38 million in payments have been made to those living in large cities, including Washington, D.C., New York, and San Francisco.

The Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA) has been monitoring MFP payments since the issuance of Round One in 2018, when the USDA pledged $12 billion in taxpayer dollars through its Community Credit Corp. for direct payments to farmers affected by trade disputes. At the time, MFP payments were capped per person or legal entity at a combined $125,000 for qualifying commodities.

The Center determined MFP payments were being misused, with some farming operations receiving excessive payments through loopholes that included having numerous absentee managers, or claiming family members as active managers. As a result, payments were directed to individuals who do not work or live on a farm.

“The problem is there is no cap on the number of payments that can go to one farming operation, which makes the $125,000 cap on a single MFP payment essentially meaningless,” said Cora Fox, a policy associate for the CFRA, in an editorial analysis.

“Since MFP payment limitations are not tied to commodity subsidies, crop insurance subsidies and other forms of federal assistance, some farming operations are literally harvesting thousands of dollars from taxpayers’ wallets by way of Uncle Sam.”

Farm World attempted to reach family representatives of Tom Farms and Charlotte Kelley, through her Kelcot Warehouses business, for comment for this story. Email and telephone requests were not returned, however, by press time.