OMAHA- Sonny Perdue, the Secretary of Agriculture toured the Food Bank for the Heartland warehouse on Friday. The agency is dealing with increased demand due to the coronavirus. Perdue was joined by Governor Ricketts, the State Agriculture Director Steve Wellman and Representative Don Bacon.

From March 15 to June 30 the Food Bank for the Heartland distributed over eleven and a half million meals through the new SNAP incentives. This was a 61% jump from the average amount of meals distributed over that time period.

Before COVID-19, the bank's mobile pantry program in Grand Island served around 400 houses per month, that figure is now closer to 1,000.

Perdue then announced the third round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which is worth $4 million will roll out Tuesday without any delays. Ricketts' spokesman said the governor stands by his decision not to extend the emergency supplemental food assistance program past July. The federal coronavirus relief bill allowed the states to boost all SNAP benefits to the maximum level. Nebraska was the only state not to provide this additional aid for August. Thirteen other states have already applied to continue past September.

Perdue said there will be a second round of the food assistance program coming in mid-September with the first round providing $16 billion to help farmers and ranchers through the pandemic. This round will mostly cover agricultural commodities. The Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the state will also begin to work on grassland restoration with a focus on protecting at-risk communities from wildfire.

Read the full article by clicking HERE