On Tuesday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it is allocating $330 million to help agricultural producers and other businesses in the food supply chain bounce back after they were financially impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding is part of the departments’ USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers, an initiative announced in March.
Most of the funds will go towards existing programs, including $169.9 million for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, split into $72.9 million for the annual Farm Bill funding and $97 million for emergency funding for farmers, food businesses, organizations who assist farmworkers or other supply chain entities. The Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) will reportedly receive $75 million, which will help address food insecurity. About $80 million will be given to cotton producers, specifically “domestic users of upland and extra-long staple cotton.”
USDA’s press release said that these funds “will aid in developing new markets for U.S. agricultural products, expand the specialty crop food sector, and incent the purchase of fruits and vegetables by low-income consumers.”
The funding given to the GusNIP will be used to address food security needs and “enhance the resilience of food and healthcare systems impacted by the pandemic,” through making fruits and vegetables more affordable for communities who currently have a GusNIP-related grant. The USDA said that it encourages others to apply for grants if the grant would benefit farmers and ranchers, low-income communities, or disadvantaged producers.
The funding given for cotton farmers begins a one-time program called the Pandemic Assistance for Cotton Users. Through this program, the USDA will pay 6 cents per pound to domestic users.
In addition to these programs, the USDA also gave notice in the same announcement that it will be implementing a Dairy Donation Program to facilitate donations to non-profit organizations. This is meant to reduce food waste and encourage businesses in the dairy industry to process milk surpluses for donations.
“We launched USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers to respond in a broader, fairer way to the pandemic’s impact across food and agriculture, and we are following through on our promise,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in the USDA press release. “The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in wide-ranging impacts that were felt throughout the agricultural sector. The Biden-Harris Administration is focused on ensuring that the entire agricultural sector successfully rebuilds following the pandemic, and the funding we’re announcing today will reach a broader set of producers and businesses than previous COVID-19 aid programs.”
