Agriculture Relief

Paycheck Protection Program

The PPP is the flagship small business assistance program in the CARES Act.  As Congressional leaders have discussed, the PPP provides $350 billion in assistance to small businesses for payroll, benefits, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities with loans of up to $10 million. Up to 8 weeks of average payroll and other costs will be forgiven if the business retains its employees and their salary levels.

Per the statue, there is broad eligibility for this program, including small businesses with fewer than 500 employees, as well as 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(19) (veteran service organizations), sole-proprietor, independent contractors, and other self-employed individuals.  Agricultural producers are permitted to participate in this program on the same footing as all other small businesses.  Cooperatives are not eligible.

Information Sheet for Borrowers (PDF)

Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program

The EIDL Program is an existing direct loan program at SBA that was modified under the CARES Act.  As modified, it’s purposes and functions are similar to PPP, but on a smaller scale and the forgivable portion of the loans is limited to $10,000.  The CARES Act appropriated $10 billion to the EIDL program (a little less than 3% the size of PPP).
 
Agricultural producers have been historically excluded from this program (some small cooperatives may be eligible), due to it is duplicative nature of existing USDA programs.  However, changes in the CARES Act have introduced uncertainty in the eligibility requirements; including whether agricultural producers are now eligible.

Press Release from SBA (SBA) added May 4

FRAUD ALERT: Scams Targeting SNAP Recipients (USDA)

Examples of confidential information include social security number, bank information, or a participant’s SNAP EBT card or PIN number. In one potential scam, a website asked SNAP recipients to enter their personal and bank account information to qualify for COVID-related monetary assistance.

United States Department of Agriculture Coronavirus Information (USDA)

USDA Scam Alerts (USDA)

USDA Child Nutrition Programs, WIC, SNAP Coronavirus Updates (USDA-FNC)

*information provided for convenience and is subject to change due to evolving nature of the situation