The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to purchase catfish and Atlantic groundfish products as part of USD 76.5 million (EUR 67.3 million) in planned purchases for domestic nutrition programs.
“The farm-raised catfish industry has been under tremendous financial pressure as producers have struggled with years of rising costs and inflation. Like many agricultural sectors, our catfish farmers have faced significant economic challenges,” U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) said in a release. “These Section 32 purchases will provide meaningful support for producers in Mississippi and other catfish-producing states while delivering a healthy, high-quality source of protein to families served by nutrition programs across the country,”
As part of the bulk purchases, the USDA plans to buy USD 5 million (EUR 4.4 million) worth of Atlantic groundfish and USD 20 million (EUR 17.6 million) worth of farm-raised catfish.
“These purchases are being made through USDA’s authority under Section 32 of the Agriculture Act of 1935 and will assist producers and communities in need,” USDA said in its announcement. “With this action, the Trump Administration is bolstering American prosperity by supporting American agriculture, rural communities, and those in need of nutrition assistance.”
The announcement comes more than a month after Isola, Mississippi, U.S.A.-based Consolidated Catfish Producers was awarded a USD 848,160 (EUR 734,955) contract for catfish products by USDA.
On 30 June, Hyde-Smith and four other U.S. senators wrote to USDA asking the department to purchase more catfish under Section 32.
“Surplus purchases will assist catfish farmers and the thousands of jobs dependent upon this industry throughout the Southeast,” the senators stated in the joint letter. “The U.S. farmed catfish industry is extremely important to the states we represent. Nearly USD 2 billion [EUR 1.7 billion] in economic output, including more than 9,100 jobs, is directly or indirectly attributable to the production of U.S. farmed catfish. Farms and processing facilities in our states are typically among the largest employers in the economically depressed counties.”
