The coronavirus pandemic greatly impacted the agriculture industry, from producers to processors to end users. Iowa’s agriculture industry early this week received much needed relief.
Governor Kim Reynolds (R-IA) today allocated roughly 100-million of one-point-two-five-billion dollars of federal CARES Act relief funds for a range of agricultural programs. Most funds were dedicated to producer relief, according to Jake Swanson, agricultural policy advisor to Governor Reynolds.
?Sixty-million dollars will go to the Iowa Livestock Producer Relief Program (Fund). This will be administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority,” Swanson says. “We?ll provide grants of up to 10-thousand dollars to eligible producers, largely to serve as working capital to help our livestock producers recover from that COVID-19 related impact.?
Funds were divided among seven programs, including:
- State Biofuel Grant Program – $15.5 million administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority
- Renewable Fuel Retail Recovery Program – $7 million administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
- Iowa Beginning Farmer Debt Relief Fund – $6 million administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority
- Meat Processing Development and Expansion Program – $2 million administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
- Farm Produce and Protein Program – $500,000 administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
- Iowa Disposal Assistance Program – Up to $9 million administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
Swanson provides a more detail on the programs listed above. Click on the following link for additional insight.
“It’s anybody’s guess at this point what will get legs and what will make it through Congress,” with regards to additional coronavirus legislation,” Swanson says. He adds, “We’re supportive of any aid that can go out to our state farmers, ranchers, and producers.” However, Governor Reynolds’ top priority is to obtain relief for agricultural producers impacted by the derecho.
“The Governor did request a Secretarial Disaster Designation from the USDA. This designation, if granted by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, would open low interest, emergency loans for producers among a variety of other programs to help producers recover from the derecho,” Swanson says.
Programs administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority can be found at iowabusinessrecovery.com beginning August 31, while programs administered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship can be found at iowaagriculture.gov/grants beginning today, August 25.
