More Aid

The USDA has released new details of the much anticipated Corona Virus Food Assistance Program. The $19 billion dollar aid package will help farmers and ranchers that are hurting due to the pandemic. The relief includes $16 billion in direct payments to producers, with another three billion to purchase food products. Andrew Wamsley of the American Farm Bureau says the nation's farmers and ranchers need relief “impacts to farmers and ranchers across the country. Markets drying up with restaurants closing, food service, cafeterias, schools are being shut down has had immediate impact on a wide swath of growers. Those that are selling fresh produce and specialty crops in the restaurants down to our dairy farmers, where their milk typically goes in the school. And obviously the challenges are livestock producers.” The Farm Bureau calls the aid package a good first step: “We see this as a down payment. The secretary of agriculture is using the resources Congress has given the department as a first step to meet some of the immediate needs that producers are seeing. We definitely think there's going to be a need for more as this pandemic progresses.” The USDA will have access to an additional $14 billion this summer. And lawmakers are starting to work on another economic relief package. The Farm Bureau says the first relief package should be available to farmers and ranchers next month. “We expect in the next couple of weeks, the USDA will start making purchases for food assistance. It's going to be a little bit longer until producers start seeing the assistance from the 16 billion. There's still some process for USDA to go through.” So producers should hopefully see an opportunity to sign up in May and assistance starting to hit the countryside by June.