Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted additional farmer support during his address at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention in Puerto Rico. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) efforts are underway that will further benefit farmers and ranchers. The agriculture industry has been facing a variety of challenges, notably, inflated costs of production and consolidation.
“At USDA, our goal is to provide all farmers, including new and underserved producers, with the opportunity to receive the assistance they need to continue farming, to build and maintain their competitive-edge, and to access more, new, and better markets,” Vilsack said in a press release. “Working together we can ensure American agriculture is as resilient as ever and will do so by implementing a holistic approach to emergency assistance, by lowering input costs through investments in domestic fertilizer production, and by promoting competition in agricultural markets.”
The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program is one of the ways USDA is attempting to address rising fertilizer costs. Up to $88 million will be invested in 21 potentially viable projects in 15 states, intended to increase fertilizer production. The program is meant as an investment in domestic fertilizer production and is part of a larger effort to remedy competition issues within agriculture.
USDA is also making significant investments in addressing competition within the meat and poultry sectors. Grants totaling more than $12 million have been awarded to projects in three states as part of the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program. The investment is part of a broader effort to promote competition and strengthen the overall food supply chain.
USDA is also announcing two new programs to provide further farmer support during disasters. The Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase 2 and the 2020 Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP) are meant to fill gaps left by previous natural disaster and pandemic assistance programs. The application window for ERP Phase 2 and PARP will become available on January 23 and remain open through June 2.
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