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Nebraska Farm Bureau requests additional funding for livestock producers

Nebraska Farm Bureau is calling on Congress to provide additional funding for livestock producers who are dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Farm Bureau president Steve Nelson says one of their requests is for an indemnity program to compensate producers who have had to euthanize animals.

He says that’s a “critical” need.

“It’s important to help producers who have been in this circumstance where they’ve had to reduce the numbers in their herds in order to really keep the process moving as best they can,” Nelson says.

Funds are also needed to assist contract producers—producers who don’t own the animals but are contracted to care for and feed them, Nelson says.

“They have costs—overhead and expenses—that they have to maintain to keep those facilities ready for pigs or poultry, when the time comes,” he says.”

The group is also calling for more funds to make sure packing plant workers have the personal protective equipment they need to safely do their jobs.