A New York state senator from the Hudson Valley is urging the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to deliver relief to dairy farms impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Democratic state Senator Jen Metzger, who serves as Chair of the Senate's Agriculture Committee, sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. The joint letter with the Senate’s Rural Resources Commission urges the USDA to immediately direct to the New York dairy industry a portion of the $9.5 billion set aside for agriculture in the most recent federal coronavirus relief package, known as the CARES Act. They say the industry was already facing depressed prices and low profitability, causing farm bankruptcies. Five other state senators signed the letter, including James Skoufis, who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee.