Op-ed: Administration, Congress must do all that's necessary for food security
Originally published in the Yakima Herald-Republic on May 3, 2020.
As American families and business owners adjust to our "new normal," our agriculture producers are faced with a terrifying reality.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, markets that our producers relied upon have disappeared overnight, and demand from our international trading partners has dwindled. With school and restaurant closures, producers have seen massive losses to their regularly reliable customer base. My discussions with farmers and ranchers have resulted in one resounding message: They need help.
In a number of ways, food security is national security, and having a strong food supply chain should be at the top of our priority list during any national emergency. Throughout this pandemic, the agriculture industry has been rightfully deemed essential, but the shutdown of our society is having a real, negative impact on producers and the supply chain.
Central Washington is known for its diverse agricultural portfolio, producing specialty crops from tree fruit and potatoes to hops and wine grapes. With harvest on the horizon, millions of dollars have been invested to prepare for the 2020 growing season. Meanwhile, producers are still trying to sell product from 2019.
While local producers are donating to food banks and services, the fact remains: Without assistance, many of our nation's — and our region's — farms will go out of business and never recover.
President Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue are prioritizing America's farmers and ranchers, working alongside Congress to ensure that our nation's hard-working producers have the resources they need to feed our families through this pandemic and beyond.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released the framework for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which aims to provide relief to farmers and ranchers who are struggling to sell products during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition to making purchases for national food distribution programs, CFAP provides direct payments to producers across the country who are experiencing losses due to COVID-19.
I worked with USDA to make sure these direct payments would go to specialty crop producers and those whose products are direct-to-market. I am grateful to Secretary Perdue for listening to our needs and including these payments in the framework. CFAP designates $2.1 billion in direct payments for specialty crop producers and another $2.1 billion for dairy, two hugely important sectors of our region's agriculture industry.
As the former director for the state Department of Agriculture, I understand how important strong domestic and international markets are to our region's producers. While I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress and the administration to strengthen and expand these markets for a post-pandemic world, these direct payments can start to give many farmers peace of mind in these unprecedented times.
CFAP imposes payment limits of $125,000 per commodity and $250,000 per individual or entity. Unfortunately, in our agriculturally diverse region, these limited payments may fall short for some of our most devastated farms. From potato growers and orchardists in North Central Washington to dairy farmers throughout the Yakima Valley, these payments from USDA are desperately needed and very much appreciated, but in many cases the aid is just not proportionate with the damages.
I was joined by 125 of my House colleagues and 30 Senators, both Republican and Democrat, in sending a letter to President Trump urging the elimination of these payment limits. Our producers have and will continue to face significant losses this spring and beyond due to COVID-19, but I will continue to work alongside my congressional partners, the Trump administration, and state officials to ensure our family-owned farms and ranches can continue to produce food for our country and the world.