The Nebraska Farm Bureau has written to the Small Business Administration urging them to modify the Paycheck Protection Program. President Steve Nelson says those modifications are needed to ensure that farmers and ranchers impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic can utilize assistance offered through the program.

He says the ways the current PPP is structured, less than 2 percent of farmers and ranchers have been able to qualify for the program.

Nelson says many farmers and ranchers are self employed and that has also caused them to be excluded from the PPP and it needs fixing.

Nelson says his group also encouraged the SBA to increase the amount of loans that could be allocated for rent, in addition to broadening the type of business utilities that qualify for loan forgiveness.