U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are urging federal officials to provide immediate assistance to cattle producers in Oregon and nationwide by using resources from the latest coronavirus relief package passed last week.
The Oregon lawmakers said in a bipartisan letter from 143 House and Senate members to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue that replenishing the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and additional emergency funding would help cattle producers 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.”
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stabilization (CARES) Act passed last week and signed into law replenished the CCC and appropriated an additional $9.5 billion for USDA to assist producers, including livestock producers, throughout this crisis.
