On Friday, April 20, 2020, USDA announced $2.7B would be dedicated to the fruit & vegetable industry, intended for immediate relief.
Direct Relief Payments from USDA
$2.1 Billion = Direct payments to growers & grower-shippers. Producers will be compensated up to 85% of losses to a maximum of $125k per commodity w/ a limit of $250k per individual or entity. Qualified commodities must have experienced 5% or greater price losses between January 1, 2020 and April 15, 2020. Rule making and sign-ups are expected to begin in early May, with payments arriving to producers by end of May or early June. (2nd tranche >April 15th w/ different terms)
$100 million per month = USDA will purchase $100M per month for 6 months of fruits & vegetables. Combined w/ $100M in diary & $100M in meat per month, local distributors or wholesalers whose workforce has been significantly reduced will work w/ USDA to provide boxes of produce, diary and meat to Americans in need.
TIPA is already aligning with other industries to return to Congress and seek additional support for the fresh fruit & vegetable industry.
