The Federal government has been working hard to get pandemic relief funding out to the nation’s farmers and ranchers. The Small Business Administration recently revised their Paycheck Protection Program that provides forgivable loans to businesses. South Dakota Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal says its positive SBA realized they needed to make agriculture eligible for that help.
He says the Farm Service Agency has done a good job responding fairly quickly by getting the CFAP or Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments out last week., with South Dakota and Nebraska among the top five states getting payments. VanderWal says the feds are understanding the financial strain producers are under.
VanderWal says while the funding assistance through the various federal programs give some relief they won’t make producers whole and there’s only so much money that can go around with all of the needs.
VanderWal says U.S. negotiators were working on getting various trade deals going that would help producers. He says so far the markets haven’t responded but the fact that the crop is looking good so far with a better planting season that last year provides some hope.
