McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), and 48 other lawmakers in writing a letter to United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue urging the department to take greater action in helping dairy farmers impacted by COVID-19.
In the letter, the lawmakers note the particular impact to the dairy market caused by COVID-19 and the devastating long-term impact the dairy industry will suffer if swift action is not taken.
“While no sector of the economy is immune to the COVID-19 pandemic, the dairy market is on the verge of collapse, and without your swift action, it is in danger of never fully recovering. In short, dairy farmers need your support immediately,” the letter states in part.
Following receipt of the letter last Friday, U.S. Agriculture Sec. Sonny Perdue and the United States Department of Agriculture took immediate and significant action to help the dairy industry with the agency’s Risk Management Agency providing additional flexibility to ensure those that need to dump milk as a result of COVID-19 are not needlessly penalized by allowing Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) to count dumped milk toward the milk marketings for the DRP or actual marketings for the LGM-Dairy programs regardless of whether the milk was sold.
In addition, USDA announced that the Risk Management Agency will extend inspection deadlines, waive inspection requirements, and authorize more crop insurance transactions over the phone and electronically to help producers during the crisis.
On the letter and USDA response, Keller made the following statement:
“During this difficult time, farmers across the country have stepped up to ensure our food chain is maintained and families have the nutrition they need. The federal government now needs to step up to help them during this crisis.
“With businesses and schools closed, the dairy industry in central and northeastern Pennsylvania and across the country has been particularly devastated by the impact of COVID-19. “I was proud to join fellow lawmakers in urging the United States Department of Agriculture to take action to help our dairy farmers mitigate the business impacts they are seeing as a result of this virus. I was also glad to see USDA take immediate action in response to our letter to help our dairy farmers by providing flexibility and assistance measures.
“As the impacts of the virus continue to be felt across the country, I will work to help the dairy industry get what they need to survive the impacts of COVID-19.”
Source : keller.house.gov