Letter to Sonny Perdue, Secretary of the Dept. of Agriculture - Vermont Delegation Sends Letter Urging USDA Secretary Perdue To Do More For Dairy Farmers

Letter

Dear Secretary Perdue:

We write to you today to urge further and immediate action to support the dairy industry that is
suffering as a result of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Dairy farms are
the backbone of Vermont's rural economy and offer critical nutrition and high-quality products
to individuals across the country. Our dairy farmers face unprecedented challenges and have
received little of the support that Congress has provided. While we appreciate the recent Farmers
to Families Food Box contracts awarded for Vermont, we urge you to act immediately to use all
available programs to support the struggling dairy industry, including the Coronavirus Food
Assistance Program (CFAP) to provide direct relief to farmers in need.

Since the CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, Vermont's dairy farmers have yet to
receive any of the $23.5 billion authorized in the bill for assistance to farmers. As you implement
the CFAP payments to producers, dairy farmers must be compensated for the months they will
be impacted the most. Starting in April and continuing through this summer, they face
disastrously low milk prices with no certainty as to when product demand will recover. Initial
reports suggested that the CFAP would compensate farmers at a very low rate for the months
when prices are projected to be lowest. We urge you to correct this.

We respectfully request that you use the many tools at your disposal to alleviate the pain being
felt by this industry, including: implementing a program to manage oversupply, compensating
producers for milk that has been dumped, reopening the Dairy Margin Coverage Program for
2020 enrollment, and convening an emergency hearing to establish a temporary price floor for
Class I fluid milk to stop the cratering of prices. These actions would make a real difference to
farmers immediately and provide them with desperately needed cash.

Our dairy farmers, who provide Americans with essential nutrition every day, are in crisis and
we need you to help. We urge you take immediate action to ensure our dairy farmers and rural
communities survive this unprecedented time.

Sincerely,

Source