[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 100 (Thursday, May 28, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         LIVESTOCK PRODUCER ASSISTANCE FOR COVID-19 DAMAGES ACT

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                           HON. JIM HAGEDORN

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 28, 2020

  Mr. HAGEDORN. Madam Speaker, I rise today because America's livestock 
industry is in crisis.
  Across southern Minnesota and in many areas of our nation, pork 
producers are especially in trouble. Packing plant closures and 
disruptions and other reverberations associated with COVID-19 and the 
pause in our economy have depressed futures markets and made it 
impossible to process hogs. Many of our producers are being forced to 
destroy animals and not even use the meat for our food supply.
  To mitigate production losses incurred by our pork producers, this 
week I introduced the ``Livestock Producer Assistance for COVID-19 
Damages Act.'' My legislation is designed to augment the United States 
Department of Agriculture's existing Emergency Assistance for 
Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm Raised Catfish program to cover income 
losses for farmers and producers who have been unable to market 
livestock due to packing plant closures or reduced operations beginning 
on April 19, 2020.
  Due to the ongoing pandemic, our livestock farmers in southern 
Minnesota and throughout the nation have been pushed to the brink of 
insolvency. This represents a direct threat to our nation's food supply 
and the vibrancy of the economy and our rural communities.
  During this pause in our economy, restaurants have been largely shut 
down, which has caused reduced demand and dramatically lower futures 
markets for pork, beef and other cuts of meat. On top of that, we have 
had packing plant disruptions and closures that have created an 
environment where market ready hogs cannot even be processed and 
distributed into the food chain.
  Because the pork industry uses an in-time delivery system, hogs 
cannot be stored or pastured like other traditional crops and animals. 
Until meat packing plants return fully online, many pork producers are 
left with no place to market their hogs, leaving euthanasia, rendering 
or composting as some of the only options for handling potentially 
millions of pigs.
  The outlook is especially challenging for independent farmers who own 
and raise their own livestock. In the past few months, hog prices 
plunged 26 percent, further compounding challenges for livestock 
producers to develop additional options for selling their hogs.
  In Minnesota, our farmers make huge contributions to the state's 
economy. According to a study by the University of Minnesota, current 
disruptions in the pork supply chain, coupled with the current 15 
percent unemployment rate, could result in an estimated loss of $660 
million in economic activity in our state.
  The researchers also concluded that a 15 percent drop in hog 
production would lead to an estimated loss of 2,100 jobs.
  Because pork and livestock producers are suffering huge losses, 
financial and otherwise, and through no fault of their own, I urge my 
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this 
bill. We must stand with our family farmers, and in so doing defend the 
interests of our economy, rural communities and America's food supply.

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