SD Congressional Delegation Urges USDA to Provide Immediate Assistance to Cattle Producers
Sen. Mike Rounds, Sen. John Thune and Congressman Dusty Johnson last week helped secure support for South Dakota’s farmers and ranchers in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed into law on Friday, March 27. The bill provides $14 billion to replenish the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation and will also provide $9.5 billion in emergency funding to support certain producers, including livestock producers, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yesterday, South Dakota's congressional delegation joined more than 140 other members of Congress to send a bipartisan, bicameral letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting that he provide immediate assistance to cattle producers by using the resources provided in the CARES Act. Doing so would help facilitate the stabilization of farm and ranch income for producers who are facing market volatility in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic fallout.
“The COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated the need for domestic food security,” the members of Congress wrote. “All farmers and ranchers are vital to our country’s ability to keep food on the table in a future pandemic or related crisis, and many producers, including young producers, are often highly leveraged and cannot fall back on years of equity in a time of crisis. As such, we urge you to quickly deliver relief to producers as we work to lessen the economic impact of this pandemic.”