Newhouse seeks USDA funding relief for nation’s apple growers

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) joined a bipartisan contingent of more than two dozen lawmakers in requesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provide economic relief to American apple growers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“As with countless industries nationwide, the outbreak of COVID-19 has had a drastic and damaging effect on apple growers,” wrote Rep. Newhouse and his colleagues in a June 22 letter sent to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. “We urge you to use the funds Congress provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help apple growers make it through this crisis so they may continue to provide American consumers with the number one most consumed fruit in the United States.” 

Specifically, the lawmakers requested funds under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which was created under the CARES Act relief package to provide direct funding to farmers and ranchers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The congressmen noted that steep price declines make apple growers eligible for CFAP payments, based on the USDA’s requirement of a 5 percent-or-greater price decline between mid-January and mid-April as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to their letter.

Because the USDA excluded apple farmers from CFAP, the representatives called on the department to reverse that decision based on data from the apple industry showing apple price losses ranging from 6.5 percent to as much as 24.9 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the members who joined Rep. Newhouse in signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Fred Upton (R-MI), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), John Katko (R-NY), and Anthony Brindisi (D-NY).