Washington Delegation Calls On USDA To Adjust CFAP

Washington’s congressional delegation is calling on the USDA to support the state’s specialty crop industry. On Tuesday, Representative Dan Newhouse and Senator Maria Cantwell led the delegation in sending a letter to Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue calling for the state’s specialty crop industry to be included in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

The bipartisan letter, requests adjustments be made to the CFAP in order to accurately reflect damages and losses experienced by Washington’s specialty crop producers.

 “Given today’s challenges, our growers are struggling to continue operating. We appreciate the investment by USDA to assist Washington’s growers during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the letter sates  “However, we believe, along with our growers, the CFAP in its current form does not adequately account for the market losses that Washington specialty crop growers experienced from January 15, 2020, through April 15, 2020.”

Click Here to read the entire letter.

Washington ranks first in the United States for production of apples, pears, hops, and sweet cherries and second for potatoes, grapes, and onions.

Agriculture supports 164,000 jobs in Washington, producing $10.6 billion in annual revenue from over 39,000 farms of all sizes.

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