US SENATORS SEEK FUNDS FOR PORK PRODUCERS WHO EUTHANIZED PIGS

U.S. Senators from both sides of the aisle are urging Congress to provide more cash to the Department of Agriculture to enable it to help pork producers who have been forced to euthanize their animals as demand from meat processors, restaurants, hotels, schools and consumers went underwater.

Writing in The Hill on May 11, 2020, Alex Gangitano wrote that Democrat and Republican senators have urged Congress to provide additional funding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help pork producers keep their heads above water,

Gangitano said pork producers normally send 2 million pigs to market a week but, with 20 percent of the market closed due to stay-at-home orders, around 400,000 animals per week must be disposed of in some manner other than processing.

“Given these significant social and economic consequences, we must prioritize funding in the next coronavirus response package to include indemnifying producers who are depopulating herds due to processing plant closures. Assistance is needed for humane euthanizing and disposal which will require the coordination of the human, animal, and environmental health communities,” Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and 12 others wrote to the congressional leadership on Monday. #coronavirusimpact #COVID19