U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) this week urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to include the nation’s egg producers in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).
“Much of our state’s egg production supports our commercial food service, and while many restaurants and other facilities have had to close or limit operations throughout this pandemic, our egg industry has seen a drastic drop in demand and as a result some have had to dump product,” Sen. Ernst said. “These hard-working folks need relief and assistance, and that’s what we’re fighting for and pushing USDA to provide.”
Sen. Ernst and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, sent a June 2 letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue requesting that egg producers be included in the CFAP “to keep these producers afloat until the pandemic abates.”
As an integral part of Iowa’s economy, the egg industry is responsible for as much as $2.6 billion in total economic activity, supporting 7,084 jobs and directly employing 2,398 people, according to their letter.
In their letter, Sen. Ernst and her colleagues also answered questions proposed by USDA in a rule docket to justify the inclusion of liquid eggs in the final rule.
For instance, in order to be eligible for a CFAP payment, a producer must have suffered a 5 percent or greater price loss over a specified time resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic or face additional significant marketing costs for inventories. This could be caused by lower prices given significant declines in certain types of demand, surplus production, or by disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities, according to their letter.
“For distinction between the various markets for eggs, the following prices were gathered from UDSA data between mid-Jan and mid-April 2020: Liquid egg price decreased from $0.25 to $0.08 per pound (68% decrease); dried egg price decreased from $2.15 to $2.02 per pound (6% decrease); and shell egg price increased from $0.79 to $1.79 per dozen (56% increase),” wrote Sen. Ernst and her colleagues, noting that such information warrants inclusion of liquid egg producers into the CFAP.