Legislators representing Iowans have requested the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) include egg producers in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). In a letter to USDA Secretary, Sonny Perdue, Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Iowa Gov., Kim Reynolds, and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, penned a letter outlining the economic impact COVID-19 has had on all producers, including egg farmers. “Because of the massive damage done to this industry as restaurants, schools and other egg-buying businesses have closed over the past few months, we write today in support of their inclusion into the CFAP to keep these producers afloat until the pandemic abates,” they wrote. Nearly 70 percent of Iowa’s layer flocks produce eggs for the liquid egg market and the disruption has proven to be devastating for them. In their letter, Iowa’s leaders said the liquid egg market has seen a 68 percent price decline during the pandemic. Iowa’s egg industry is responsible for more than $2.5 billion in economic activity with more than 58 million egg-laying hens, supplying an estimated one in six eggs consumed nationwide each year.
