CONDE, S.D. (WNAX) – U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that emergency benefit increases have reached $2 Billion per month for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. That’s a 40 percent increase in overall monthly SNAP benefits increasing the food purchasing power for American families during the COVID 19 pandemic. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke says he’s pleased they’ve moved forward with that.

He says the harvest box program that works with private industry partnering with the government on SNAP will help those less fortunate.

Sombke says the timing of this increase couldn’t be better and it also shows the importance of SNAP being available in rural areas which are facing greater challenges than the cities.

The $2 billion per month increase is in addition to approximately $4.5 billion in benefits already provided to SNAP households each month.