When Feed Was Cheap, Catfish Farmers Got Help Buying It

US - One of the more unusual offshoots of Congress's drought-relief efforts was a $34 million assistance program for catfish farmers.

Under the 2003 Catfish Feed Assistance Program, announced in August of that year, commercial catfish farmers in Mississippi, Arkansas and a handful of other states got government credits for feed equal to $34 per ton.

All they had to do was apply at their local feed mill. The amount they received was based on how much feed they had purchased at the mill in 2002 -- not any actual losses.

The USDA advertised the program as "an innovative relief to catfish producers who have experienced losses due to adverse weather and natural disasters," according to a news release. The agency said a 2002 drought had driven up the price of feed.

Source: Washington Post