Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Pt 3

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Pt 3

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I’m Bob Larson. If food producers are going to survive this pandemic, the $16-billion in direct support from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program will be just the first wave of assistance.

That’s according to National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles who says especially with payments capped at a $250,000 maximum …

QUARLES … “That’s a real challenge when you’re talking about high-cost specialty crops. They’re not cheap to grow, your risk is huge, and trying to keep those growers whole, well you’re not even keeping them whole, you’re trying to keep them solvent. You’re trying to give them options so that they can live to fight another day.”

And, Quarles says more risk, more cost …

QUARLES … “You know, for folks who are typically out there taking the most amount of risk in the marketplace their bills are commensurate with that risk.”

Quarles says the need is hard to wrap your head around …

QUARLES … “We had the largest potato purchase in USDA history came out two weeks ago, which is fantastic and we’re glad that they’re doing it, but our need is almost six times larger than that overall purchase.”

Quarles says failure is not an option …

QUARLES … “The ag industry in the United States is fantastic and the potato industry is fantastic and we want them to thrive for a lot longer, so we can do some things to make sure that that happens, but we gotta do them right now.”

Go to www.farmers.gov/cfap for more information on the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

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