Resources for Agricultural Producers Related to COVID-19 Relief
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is administering a $349 billion program to support payroll in response to the coronavirus.
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
Agricultural producers, farmers, and ranchers with 500 or fewer employees are eligible.
Sole proprietors are eligible if the business was in operation as of 2/15/2020.
Employees must have a principal place of residence in the U.S.
Loans are forgivable if at least 75% of the loan is used for payroll purposes.
Apply through an approved SBA lender. More information is available from the SBA at https://www.sba.gov/fundingprograms/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp. The USDA has a Frequently Asked Questions section focused on agriculture at https://www.usda.gov/coronavirus.
Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)
Agricultural producers, farmers, and ranchers are not eligible for this program, however, agricultural cooperatives, aquaculture enterprises, and nurseries are eligible.
An EIDL advance of up to $10,000 is available and may be forgiven.
Businesses with more than 500 employees must meet certain industry size standards.
The UGA Small Business Development Center has a series of webinars and related material available at https://www.georgiasbdc.org/sba-economic-injury-disaster-loan/. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a program to help crop producers receive loans to allow more time for marketing their commodities. Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL)
Marketing assistance loans for eligible crops have been extended from the usual 9 months to 12 months.
Open loans must have a maturity date of March 31, 2020 or later and include new crop year (2019 and 2020) loans that are requested by September 30.
Eligible crops include upland cotton, peanuts, corn, soybeans, wheat, and other row crops typically eligible for Title I farm bill programs.
More information is available at the USDA FSA website https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programsand-services/price-support/commodity-loans/.
Author: Adam N. Rabinowitz (adam.rabinowitz@uga.edu or 229-386-3512) is an Assistant Professor and Extension Economist with the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Georgia.