August 22, 2012
www.gfb.org
Vol. 30 No. 34
USDA TO BUY MEAT, TAKE OTHER STEPS TO SOFTEN EFFECTS OF DROUGHT The USDA will purchase up to $170 million worth of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish for federal food nutrition assistance programs, including food banks, in a move Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said will help relieve pressure on American livestock producers during the ongoing drought. The purchase will be done using Section 32 funds under the Emergency Surplus Removal Program. Section 32 allows purchases of meat and poultry products to assist farmers and ranchers who have been affected by natural disasters. Many segments of the U.S. livestock industry are being affected by increasing feed prices as grain supplies are being limited by ongoing drought conditions. “These purchases will assist pork, catfish, chicken and lamb producers who are currently struggling due to challenging market conditions and the high cost of feed resulting from the widespread drought. The purchase will help mitigate further downward prices, stabilize market conditions and provide high quality, nutritious food to recipients of USDA’s nutrition programs,” Vilsack said in a press release. The meat purchases include up to $50 million worth of chicken products, which could benefit poultry producers in Georgia, the nation’s top poultry-producing state. In addition, the USDA plans to buy $100 million worth of pork and $10 million each in catfish and lamb products. The purchase of meats is one of several steps the USDA has taken to mitigate the impact of the drought. The agency has authorized $16 million in existing funds from its Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to target states experiencing drought conditions rated exceptional or extreme, the two most severe drought designation levels. The USDA has authorized haying and grazing of easement areas enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in drought-affected areas where haying and grazing is consistent with conservation of wildlife habitat and wetlands. The USDA also lowered the reduction in annual rental payment to producers on CRP acres used for emergency haying or grazing from 25 percent to 10 percent in 2012. In Georgia, 138 counties have received primary disaster area designation from the USDA due to drought. For more information about the USDA’s disaster assistance programs, visit http://tinyurl.com/2aqlsmw.