Tag Archives: coronavirus

USDA announces pandemic assistance initiative for farmers

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA is establishing new programs and efforts to bring financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions. The new initiative—USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers—will reach a broader set of producers than in previous COVID-19 aid programs. USDA is dedicating at least $6 billion toward the new ... Read More »

Partnerships miss out on PPP

From Progressive Farmer Members of Congress are urging the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Small Business Administration to issue new clarifications that would make more farmers and ranchers eligible for forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program. But with less than six weeks until the application deadline, there’s little time for SBA to change its guidance. Read the rest ... Read More »

State legislative report for the week of Jan. 18: Carbon legislation figured prominently

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Friday marked day 13 of the 2021 Legislative Session. A total of 784 bills have been introduced so far. During the second week of the legislative session, the House of Representatives and Senate were busy holding public hearings and voting to advance bills. Only three weeks remain until the first legislative deadline, Feb. 15, 2021, when ... Read More »

All wheat now available for CFAP payments

All wheat is in! Last night, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments that extends eligibility to all classes of wheat. In the first round of CFAP only hard red spring and durum wheat qualified for payments. The $14 billion package will provide payments for commodities that saw at least ... Read More »

NAWG applauds House, Senate COVID-19 wheat letters to USDA

Last week, 26 U.S. representatives and 21 U.S. senators from wheat producing states issued letters to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asking that he use existing funds through the CARES Act to begin covering 2020 crop losses and to include all classes of wheat. “NAWG is grateful for Congressman Frank Lucas’s (R-Okla.) leadership on this important effort to ... Read More »

Congressman meets with wheat growers to discuss issues

By Trista Crossley “With travel being curtailed during the pandemic, it has been more difficult for us to meet in person with our legislators, so we want to thank Rep. Newhouse for coming to Ritzville to sit down with us,” said Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG). “We also want to thank those growers ... Read More »

Some win, some don’t, as USDA spreads COVID relief

From the Capital Press The USDA on Tuesday extended COVID-19 relief to nurseries, sheep ranchers and producers of dozens of other farm goods, while turning down aid to dozens of other commodities. Washington hop and wheat farmers were among those who were denied. USDA said there wasn’t evidence their prices slumped by 5% or more between mid-January and mid-April as ... Read More »

USDA’s latest CFAP announcement still doesn’t include all classes of wheat

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced yesterday that additional commodities will now be covered by the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) in response to public comments and data. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline to apply for the program to Sept. 11. Unfortunately, USDA did not extend eligibility to any additional classes of wheat. ... Read More »

COVID-19 continues to bring anxiety but hope for new aid

From Ag Professional U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says the department is looking at options for future coronavirus relief for producers. According to Farm Journal Washington Correspondent Jim Wiesemeyer, Perdue says USDA is in the process of evaluating the COVID-19 impacts on the agricultural economy and looking at the “lessons learned so far” as another round of CFAP ... Read More »