Farmers eligible for Paycheck Protection Program

Apr 07, 2020

The program helps employers pay workers, rent, etc.

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

U.S. producers can receive loans from the Small Business Administration to help their businesses get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farmers are eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides federal loans of up to US$10 million to help small businesses with 500 or fewer employees retain and pay workers.

The funding will help pay up to eight weeks of payroll costs including benefits, and operating expenses like rent and utility payments.

Until the Trump administration passed its CARES Act, the US$2-trillion stimulus package to help the American economy overcome the effects of the coronavirus, farmers were excluded from the paycheck program.

The total amount of the CARES Act set aside for the paycheck program is about US$349 billion.

Now that farmers are eligible for the program, industry officials are encouraging producers to sign up for it.

“There are many resources available to help support our farmers during this difficult time,” said Randy Romanski, Wisconsin’s interim ag secretary, the Wisconsin State Farmer reported. “Farmers who think they may be eligible should be aware of this opportunity and reach out to their lenders if they are interested.”

The program will be administered on a first come, first served basis.

Farmers and other small business owners can apply until June 30.

Farms.com has reached out to ag economists and individual farmers for comment on the program.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.