Representatives Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) and Elise Stefanik (NY-21) successfully persuaded the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to reverse course and include apple growers in crucial COVID-19 relief.
Last month, Brindisi and Stefanik lead a bipartisan letter to Secretary Sonny Perdue urging the Administration to revise their rule and include apple growers in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). After the members’ push, USDA announced they would be reversing course.
“I am thrilled the Administration has heeded my call to change their ruling and lend a helping hand to our apple growers,” Brindisi said. “This rule change will make sure our farmers, who’ve worked so hard to keep food on our shelves, will have access to critical pandemic relief. We are all in this crisis together and I want to thank my friend Congresswoman Stefanik for joining me in this bipartisan call. Working together, getting things done, that’s the way we do things in Upstate.”
“Our upstate New York apple farmers have faced market disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they deserve access to CFAP funding,” said Stefanik. “I am proud to work in a bipartisan fashion with my upstate New York colleagues in order to make this important request of USDA to include these additional crops in the program. We will continue to advocate on behalf of our farmers.”
Under the previous rule, apple growers were not eligible to qualify for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Brindisi and Stefanik included key data in their letter demonstrating that apple price losses ranged anywhere from 6.5% to as much as 24.9% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. USDA acknowledged their mistake and now apple growers are eligible to apply for the program. This was a big win for farmers across the region and agriculture groups praised Brindisi and Stefanik for their advocacy.
USDA will begin accepting applications for additional commodities on July 13, 2020. If a producer submitted a CFAP application for a previously ineligible commodity, and the application was disapproved, the producer must submit a new CFAP application. Any apple growers in New York’s 22nd district with questions are encouraged to reach out to USDA or Brindisi’s office for assistance.
