Thursday, a group of 15 Senators led by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow
(D-Mich.), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry, and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the most senior member of
the Committee, called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reverse
its decision to unfairly exclude dairy farmers from receiving COVID-19 relief
to cover losses related to meat production.
While milk is the primary income for dairy farms, they often are diversified
operations with significant revenue coming from the meat of cows as they are
retired from milking. In the original Coronavirus Food Assistance Program
(CFAP), the USDA compensated dairy farmers and other livestock producers for
losses related to meat produced from breeding animals. When USDA announced CFAP
2, the second version of the relief program, the Department made a significant
change to exclude those losses.
"This change will affect the livestock industry and will be particularly
harmful to dairy farmers who often operate at extremely tight margins,"
wrote the Senators. "The decision is even more troubling considering that
USDA clearly has sufficient resources to cover these losses. Additionally, it
is less complicated for both USDA and farmers to cover all livestock and avoid
confusion about what animals are covered or excluded."
"Considering the dairy industry's traditionally tight margins, USDA's
decision to shift course and arbitrarily exclude dairy farm losses related to
meat production is a significant blow," wrote the Senators. "We urge
USDA to reverse this arbitrary decision and make breeding animals eligible for
CFAP 2 like they were under the original relief program."
In addition to Senators Stabenow and Leahy, the letter was signed by Senators
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Angus King (I-Maine), Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patty Murray
(D-Wash.), Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Murphy
(D-Conn.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Gary Peters
(D-Mich.).