Tag: coronavirus

Financial Assistance Through USDA Now Available!

The CARES act authorized payments through USDA for covid-19 related income losses, this is called Coronavirus Food Assistance Program or CFAP. Don’t be confused by the name – this includes financial payments to farmers for losses incurred due to the pandemic outbreak.

CFAP assistance applications are administered through your local Farm Service Agnency (FSA) office and applications are being accepted March 26, 2020 through August 28, 2020.

Information on all these rules and qualifications can be found at https://www.farmers.gov/cfap. The website includes a payment calculator and printable forms (scroll down the page to see all forms required).

Application eligibility requirements include:

  • Specified agricultural commodities that have suffered at least a 5 percent or greater price decline (dairy, beef, forage crops all qualify, mid-January to Mid-April timeline) OR or who had losses due to market supply chain disruptions and face additional costs.
  • Average adjusted gross income <$90,000 or derive at least 75% of income from farming.
  • Be in compliance with other USDA rules such as Highly Erodable Land regulations.

Application Submission:

You must apply through your local FSA office by mail, fax, hand delivery or electronic means, however offices are only open for phone appointments at this time. You should contact your local office before submitting your application. Reach your local FSA office for questions. In Middlebury, you can call 802-388-6748 and fax 802-497-3679.

Factsheets by Category:

GeneralDownload
DairyDownload
LivestockDownload
WoolDownload
Specialty Crops (vegetables, fruit, nuts)Download
Non specialty crops (corn, wheat and other grains and oilseeds)Download

Dairy CFAP calculations are being split into two categories: CARES Act payment which will compensate producers for price losses during the first quarter of 2020 and CCC Funds payment which will compensate for marketing channel and demand disruptions for the second quarter of 2020 (April, May, and June) due to COVID-19.

If you need assistance with HEL compliance or have other agronomy related questions that we can help with, call our office at 802-388-4969 and leave us a message.

Financial Help For Farmers in the Face of Covid-19

*This is an evolving situation and will be updated

PPP Loans: Paycheck Protection Loans are obtained through a lender (Yankee Farm Credit, VEDA, your bank, etc) that reimburses for payroll and other expenses spent over an 8 week period as long as employees are hired back or retained. You can use the money for employee salaries, paid sick or medical leave, insurance premiums, and mortgage, rent, and utility payments.

EIDL/EIDG: The latest act allows farmers to qualify for this program. The EIDL program is a loan program directly through SBA which can be used to cover a wide variety of expenses. It provides a grant (the EEIG) up to $10,000 ($1,000 per employee up to 10) whether the applicant takes the loan or not. Note, there has been a major backlog in applications and most Vermont businesses have not yet heard back from SBA after applying. Hopefully that will be resolved soon.

SBA news release as of 5/4/20 SBA has re-opened portal for applications! If you were unable apply before you should be able to apply now.

PUA: Pandemic Unemployment Insurance is available for self-employed individuals including farmers. Self-employed farmers are eligible to apply for PUA if you have had some level of lost income. Many farmers may be eligible, and if so, you’d receive a minimum of $790 per week and a maximum of $1,113 per week.

USDA funds: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program will take several actions to assist farmers, ranchers, and consumers in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. See the press release. The plan will provide $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and $3 billion in food product purchases for distribution through the emergency food system. Details will still need to be rolled out but we expect dairy producers will receive $2.9 billion in direct payments, and $2.1 billion will go to specialty crop producers. The payments are based on milk production and calculated through a formula. They have not announced a specific timeline, but there is indications that sign-ups will be through FSA, and payments may be as early as late May. See this Hoard’s Dairyman article on some more thoughts.

New link – Webinar on CFAP, Thursday, May 14, 2020, at 1 p.m. ET.

Do you need help navigating all of this? UVM Extension Ag Business / Farm Viability can help.

Do you have questions for our office? Give us a call at 802-388-4969 and we will get back to you.

Resources in these challenging times

Our offices are currently closed but we are still here to help you! Please give us a call at 802-388-4969 and leave us a message. We will return it! You can also email us at champlain.crops@uvm.edu

Things are changing daily, and the best way to keep up with our office is through our email list and newsletter. If you don’t already get notifications, sign up now.

Many organizations are acting as clearinghouses for links so I will not repeat the work they have been doing, but instead refer you to them below.

Consider providing feedback for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) on how the Coronavirus crisis is affecting your operation! We’d also like to hear from you if there are things you think UVM Extension can be doing to help.

VAAFM Covid-19 resource page

USDA Covid-19 resource page

UVM Extension Resources:

Information about Small Business Administration Loans through the CARES act can be found on their webpage.

Farm First is your connection to free and confidential support for all farmers and their families.

Vermont Housing and Conservation Board also provides business advising services.