House Agriculture Committee leaders want the USDA to assist sheep and lamb producers impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. They’ve sent their concerns to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. American Sheep Industry Association Executive Director Peter Orwick says they’ve been talking with USDA about the need for aid for their industry through the next Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
He says there could be an extension of the aid application deadline that would be beneficial for their industry.
Orwick says he thinks politicians are starting to see the economic woes sheep and lamb producers are experiencing and will be more likely to help them out going forward.
In their letter to the Ag Secretary requesting aid, the House Ag Committee members told him the closure of the nation’s second largest processor represents an estimated 20 percent of the nation’s processing capacity for sheep producers. That closure comes at a time when the sheep industry was already forecast to lose more than $350 million due to the pandemic.
