On Wednesday, 21 bipartisan senators representing wheat-producing states issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture “regarding the deteriorating economic conditions being experienced by wheat farmers across the country” and the compounding impact this is having with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Led by Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts (R., Kan.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), the letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue requests that funds in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act be provided to wheat growers of all wheat varieties to address price impacts from COVID-19. Perdue has said in recent weeks that he plans to provide a second round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to cover additional price losses in the second and third quarters.

“As members of Congress representing wheat-producing states, we write regarding the deteriorating economic conditions being experienced by wheat farmers across the country who are already nearly completed with this year’s harvest,” the senators wrote. “Whether it’s wheat farmers who wrapped up harvest in May, those in the field harvesting their crops now or those looking ahead to harvest in the coming weeks, COVID-19 and other factors outside their control continue to depress the price of wheat. We ask that you use the resources available through the CARES Act to provide support for wheat farmers that includes assistance for all classes of wheat.”

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National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) president and Cass City, Mich., wheat grower Dave Milligan thanked the senators for taking the lead on this issue, saying, “We applaud both parties for coming together to advocate on such an important issue.”

In the letter, the senators point to the economic impact of COVID-19 on wheat prices and the need for assistance for all wheat growers. The letter focuses on CFAP, stating that while the assistance is important to hard red spring and durum wheat producers, "these classes of wheat represent approximately 30% of 2019 production, leaving the majority of wheat farmers without access to assistance through the CFAP program.”

Milligan said, “Again, we want to thank the USDA for getting CFAP quickly off the ground but stress that it does not do enough for all wheat farmers. NAWG urges USDA to provide assistance to farmers of all classes of wheat and to consider 2020 crop losses and price decline when developing any future aid plan.”

The bipartisan letter was signed by 21 U.S. senators, including: Roberts, Klobuchar, Jim Risch (R., Ida.), Michael Bennet (D., Colo.), Mike Crapo (R., Ida.), John Cornyn (R., Texas), Steve Daines (R., Mont.), Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.), Jerry Moran (R., Kan.), Patty Murray (D., Wash.), Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), Tina Smith (D., Minn.), Dick Durbin (D., Ill.), Cory Gardner (R., Colo.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), John Hoeven (R., N.D.), Ben Sasse (R., Neb.), Jon Tester (D., Mont.), Mike Rounds (R., S.D.), Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) and John Thune (R., S.D.).