Wisconsin Democrat Complains to USDA Secretary About Distribution of Trade Aid

The trade aid was too generous to the richest farming families, suggests Rep. Ron Kind, a Democrat who represents a rural district in Wisconsin. Kind sent a letter Aug. 12 to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue saying he is deeply concerned about a report that shows that thousands of payments were larger than the stated limit, with 82 farms receiving payments of more than half a million dollars in taxpayer funds. He also cited the same study using U.S. Department of Agriculture data that found some payments went to people who do not reside on farms, but live in Manhattan, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and the like.