As dairy farmers dump excess milk and pork producers close plants due to coronavirus outbreaks in their facilities, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said financial help for farmers is on the way.
On Thursday, Perdue told Fox Business’s “Mornings With Maria” that a plan to get direct payments to struggling farmers will happen “very soon.”
"We spoke to the president yesterday about that and we hope to have it out, announced very quickly," Perdue told host Maria Bartiromo. "There will be direct payments both to our specialty crops, both to our dairy, our livestock ... and commodities as well that have suffered from this. It's affected all of agriculture.”
Perdue estimated the initial tranche for direct payments would total $16 to $18 billion.
He also announced that a program is in the works for the USDA to buy food directly from the farmers to distribute to food banks and other charities.
He added the food supply chain is sufficient even if grocery store shelves seem empty at times.
“We are safe. We are sound. The food supply chain is resilient,” he said.
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