Walz tells Brownfield Minnesota pork and turkey producers can apply for CARES aid starting Tuesday

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Walz tells Brownfield Minnesota pork and turkey producers can apply for CARES aid starting Tuesday

Governor Walz tells Brownfield Minnesota pork and turkey producers can apply for COVID-related assistance beginning Tuesday.

The Governor is tapping into federal CARES Act dollars allocated to Minnesota to provide a total of $5.75 million to eligible farmers.

“The Minnesota Department of Ag will have (a place) on their website. there will be a cap on the amount a single producer can receive, making sure that it’s fairly put out there. (MDA) will decide on the number of applications they get to make sure there’s a fair distribution.”

He says most producers understand these payments won’t make them whole.

“For all of us who are consumers, I think sometimes when we see people sometimes characterize (these) as subsidies to the industry, these are to make sure that the food supply stays stable and reasonably priced. So for all of us who continue to see these products in the store, it’s because of these producers. So we all see a benefit (from these payments).”

Walz says the direct assistance is aimed at individual producers who suffered from processing plant shutdowns and other market disruptions during the pandemic.

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