On Wednesday, Senators and Representatives from across the Northwest and across the country, called for immediate assistance to cattle producers. Lawmakers sent a letter to Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue, asking that resources allocated under last week’s CARES Act be used to help cattle producers facing market volatility in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and economic fallout. That would be done though replenishing the Commodity Credit Corporation and additional emergency funding.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated the need for domestic food security,” the members of Congress wrote. “All farmers and ranchers are vital to our country’s ability to keep food on the table in a future pandemic or related crisis, and many producers, including young producers, are often highly leveraged and cannot fall back on years of equity in a time of crisis. As such, we urge you to quickly deliver relief to producers as we work to lessen the economic impact of this pandemic.”

The letter was signed by Oregon senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, as well as Idaho senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch. Northwest representatives that signed the letter include Mike Simpson, Russ Fulcher and Dan Newhouse.

Click Here to read the letter send to Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue.

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