U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) on Monday led a U.S. Senate colloquy with several Republican colleagues to support proposed legislation that would provide relief from the impacts of COVID-19 to American farmers, ranchers and rural residents.
“Congress needs to act and act now to ensure that farmers, ranchers and rural America receive the relief they desperately need,” said Sen. Hoeven, chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.
Sen. Hoeven met with U.S. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), and Pat Roberts (R-KS), among others, to discuss the $50 billion in funding authority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that he worked to include in the proposed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, S. 3548, which is currently being blocked from consideration by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Agriculture, which supplies Americans with food, fuel and fiber, is one of our nation’s critical industries,” Sen. Hoeven said. “Our farmers and ranchers are working overtime to deliver food to our grocery shelves across this great country.
“At the same time,” he added, “they’re facing real challenges. As just one example, the cattle industry has lost between $7 [billion] and $9 billion over the past two months. That’s just one sector of the agriculture economy.”
Sen. Hoeven also worked with the American Farm Bureau to send a March 23 letter signed by numerous groups representing rural agriculture urging congressional appropriators to address their needs by acting on S. 3548.
“Millions of producers will need help with cash flow given the rapid and unanticipated decline in commodity prices, the likely closure of ethanol processing plants, the effective elimination of direct-to-consumer sales and decline in full-service restaurant and school meal demand,” wrote the organizations. “Congress must have farmers’ and ranchers’ backs by expanding and replenishing USDA’s borrowing authority under the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).”
During his discussion with colleagues, Sen. Hoeven also recommended replenishing $30 billion in CCC funding authority for USDA; increasing the CCC borrowing authority an additional $20 billion for USDA to respond to COVID-19; and allowing USDA to utilize CCC funding to assist livestock producers and other agricultural sectors.