Micheal Clements, NAFB News Service

Kirsten Gillibrand, a Senate Democrat from New York and Senate Agriculture Committee member, is urging the Department of Agriculture to provide direct relief for small farmers. Gillibrand says she is “demanding” USDA to “answer for the inequitable distribution” of payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Gillibrand is calling on USDA to address gaps in CFAP that “have left small farmers in crisis.” Specifically, Gillibrand is urging USDA to make the program more equitable for small farmers and ranchers, collect data on farm size and demographics for CFAP applications, and set aside at least 50 percent of all assistance funds specifically for small and mid-scale operations, with payment amounts calculated the same for all producers, based on revenue losses. Gillibrand states, “The disparities in federal farm relief are unfair to our small farmers who are facing insurmountable debt and are struggling to stay afloat due to the pandemic.”