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House expected to pass American Rescue Act

The U.S. House is expected to pass the American Rescue Act today providing $1.9 trillion in COVID relief.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux tells Brownfield the package will provide a lot of resources to improve services from the federal government.

“We want to make sure we’ve got our arms around everybody and we’re really dialing in on that equity portion of our platform and getting out to those specialty crops, socially disadvantaged producers,” he says. “There are some huge things that are coming in this American Rescue Act for those communities.”

He says once passed, USDA plans to carry out support programs as Congress has intended.

The American Farm Bureau says agricultural provisions are expected to appropriate an estimated $10.4 billion for programs set to strengthen the ag and food supply chain.

About 35 percent of that total is earmarked for USDA to purchase and distribute commodities and fund COVID-19 mitigation efforts for ag and supply chain workers.

Combined, the nutrition and ag provisions in the plan are estimated at $22.7 billion.