Farmers growing fresh vegetables got hit hard when the pandemic shut down food service a year ago, but new direct to consumer channels, USDA's Farmers to Families Food Box program and some down-home creativity helped revive sales and distribution to consumers.

In mid-March 2020, when restaurants and foodservice mostly shut down due to COVID-19, the livestock and dairy industries experienced unparalleled disruption.

A key Republican says the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill Democrats are pushing through the Senate will lead to automatic cuts in farm programs and other forms of federal spending. Sen. John Boozman, the top Republican on the Senate Ag Committee, is referring to the Congressional Budget Office’s determination that the legislation would trigger the budget sequestration process under the 2011 budget law.

On Tuesday, Vilsack took part in a wide-ranging interview with Agri-Pulse from his home in Iowa, touching on subjects ranging from helping farmers through the COVID-19 pandemic to addressing the “cumulative effect of discrimination over a long period of time.”

An Agri-Pulse analysis shows that the Trump administration's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments were distributed more widely than traditional forms of government assistance although larger farms continue to receive the big share of the money.