CARES Act and Agriculture Pt 1

CARES Act and Agriculture Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. The President has signed the $2-trillion-plus coronavirus stimulus package that includes nearly $50-billion in aid for agriculture.

Sunnyside Republican, and a farmer himself, U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says it went through Congress with very little resistance …

NEWHOUSE … “This is called the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security. It’s relief package that will address many of the short falls around the nation and provide economic stability for the United States.”

When it comes to the aid for agriculture, Newhouse says it was “essential” …

NEWHOUSE … “We’ve always been saying that the agricultural industry is a critical part of our economy. I would say that it underpins our national security as well. So, it is deemed an essential industry. That means that farms and farm workers, agricultural processors, all of the different aspects of making sure that Americans have a food supply readily available, are being allowed to continue.”

Newhouse says the assistance for agriculture covers a lot of territory …

NEWHOUSE … “But the bill does have quite a few things in it for agriculture actually. A lot of the funds to the USDA are nutrition funds to cover the increased enrollments into the SNAP Program, so a big share of the USDA dollars will go toward that.”

The CARES Act contains $9.5 billion in assistance for ag producers who have been impacted by COVID-19 along with a $14 billion replenishment to the Commodity Credit Corporation.

Listen tomorrow for more on the aid for agriculture and where it’s headed.

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