The COVID-19 stimulus bill agreed upon today contains language that would authorize USDA to provide up to $1 billion in assistance to contract chicken growers for revenue losses sustained as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This fund is earmarked specifically for contract growers of livestock and poultry to cover up to 80 percent of revenue losses, according to bill language released by Congressional leadership.
“On behalf of the chicken industry and our farm families across the country, I want to personally thank Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) for his leadership and his support in helping to secure this vital funding,” said National Chicken Council (NCC) President Mike Brown. “USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Congressmen Robert Aderholt (R-AR), Jim Costa (D-CA), Steve Womack (R-AR) and Trent Kelly (R-MS), and the Senate and Congressional Chicken Caucuses were also instrumental in this effort. It would not have been possible without the support of the American Farm Bureau Federation and dozens of state poultry federations who all have worked for many months to make this a reality.”
Contract chicken farmers have been excluded in the previous three federal COVID-19 stimulus packages.
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letter was sent to Senate leadership in July, spearheaded by Senators Coons and Wicker and signed by 17 other senators, requesting direct financial assistance for chicken farmers that have been financially impacted by COVID-19. Congressmen Aderholt and Kelly led
a similar letter to Secretary Perdue signed by nearly four dozen House members. NCC on April 10
wrote to Secretary Perdue requesting relief for family farmers due to potential supply chain effects related to the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, NCC President Mike Brown penned an opinion piece that appeared in
Agri-Pulse in May, highlighting the council’s support for including contract broiler farmers in future COVID-19 stimulus bills.