Following representations made by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and members of the Senate and Congressional Chicken Caucus a $1 billion provision was included in the COVID-19 Stimulus Bill passed on December 21st but yet to be signed by the President.
The allocation is specifically for contract growers of livestock and poultry to cover 80 percent of revenue losses attributed to COVID-19, including depopulation. Contract growers were excluded from existing CFAP programs. The Congressional Chicken Caucuses were assisted in their efforts by the American Farm Bureau Federation and state poultry federations.
Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council lobbied for financial assistance and authored a justification that appeared in Agri-Pulse in May.
Brown stated, “This is wonderful holiday news for our farm families that have been working tirelessly through the pandemic to make sure food is one less thing Americans have to worry about as we navigated through 2020.”