The Agricultural Marketing Service will buy up to $20 million of shell eggs and frozen whole eggs as part of USDA’s trade mitigation program, the agency formally announced this week. The purchase, which had been requested by UEP, is intended to offset some of the damage that ongoing trade disputes have inflicted on U.S. farmers, while also providing nutritious food to low-income Americans through food banks and food pantries. AMS will solicit bids “in the near future” for delivery between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2020, the agency said. UEP has alerted AMS to additional opportunities to purchase shell eggs and egg products during other periods of the year for similar food bank distribution.

A link to AMS’s announcement is here. These purchases are in addition to, and not in place of, normal AMS egg and egg product purchasing for schools, Indian reservations and other programs.