Farmers fear USDA’s $19B in coronavirus aid won’t ‘scratch the surface’ – By Jessie Higgins (UPI) / April 28 2020
EVANSVILLE, Ind., April 28 (UPI) — As the federal government prepares to distribute an unprecedented $19 billion in aid to farmers struggling through the coronavirus pandemic, farm industry experts say it won’t be enough.
“That $19 billion helps,” said Pat Westhoff, director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Minnesota. “But if things deteriorate further, that may not even scratch the surface for what people are going to need to get through this.”
The issue is especially severe among livestock producers, Westhoff said.
That sector is facing an immediate crisis because the widespread closure of meat packing plants because of outbreaks of the virus makes it impossible for many farmers to sell all their animals.
“It’s a mess,” said Jim Petrik, a South Dakota rancher who raises cattle and hogs. “Almost all our local plants are out. It’s going to be a bloodbath for producers.”
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