U.S. dairy farmers that have seen an unprecedented number of bankruptcies in some parts of the country are looking closely at what sort of boost they may get from the Trump administration’s trade aid package, Bloomberg News reported. Retaliatory tariffs have robbed dairies of around $2 billion, said Beth Ford, the chief executive officer at Land O’Lakes Inc. Meanwhile, banks are de-risking their dairy portfolios, and operating loans have become harder to get, Ford said. U.S. farmers generally are struggling to remain afloat as the tariffs spat with China plays out. Dairy exports to China, once a fast-growing market, fell by more than 40 percent in the first quarter of 2019, according to the U.S. Dairy Export Council. Meanwhile, dairy farmers only got about $250 million in the first round of government payouts, according to Ford. “What do farmers want? They want trade. Nobody wants a payment,” Ford said. “If they have to have an interim payment, they would like something more reflecting the loss in the market that hit them.”
