Articles Tagged with ''coronavirus''

A bill to give businesses more flexility on how and when they spend their forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans passed the House 417-1 on Thursday.

Testing of workers at meatpacking plants may receive more attention in the next version of guidance meant to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection at those facilities, the head of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health said Thursday.

Senators Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Angus King, I-Maine, Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Joe Manchin, D-W.V., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Tina Smith, D-Minn., John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., introduce the New Markets for State-Inspected Meat and Poultry Act. A bipartisan bill, which would allow meat and poultry products inspected by state Meat and Poultry Inspection (MPI) programs to be sold across state lines.

Senate Democrats, setting the stage for a new COVID-19 relief bill, are proposing to spend $8 billion to bolster the food supply chain and to redistribute surplus commodities.

Farmers will get some welcome relief starting next month from the market impact of the coronavirus, but it will take a second round of payments to keep many in the black this year, and producers may face similar problems into next year.

Packing plants shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly up and running once again, which is placing a new focus on testing and the availability of personal protective equipment to keep their doors open. 

Farmers can start enrolling next week for $16 billion in coronavirus relief payments, but the Agriculture Department has decided to prorate the aid to ensure there is enough money to go around, Agri-Pulse has learned.

Farm groups are awaiting the release any day of USDA’s requirements for $16 billion in direct payments to compensate producers for the market losses caused by the coronavirus crisis. OMB completed its review of the planned program on Friday.

Former Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, discusses the impacts COVID-19 has had on the agriculture industry and what America needs to do to ensure the agriculture sector’s strength long into the future.

It’s not everything that farm groups wanted, but the broad array of agricultural provisions in a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill that the House is expected to vote on Friday are likely to find many supporters in the Senate.