2021 Spring Farm

Page 22 2021 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 18, 2021 Currently, farmers can apply for assistance as part of the second wave, or CFAP2. The program is currently being evaluated by the new federal administration for possible alterations before any new phases are announced. EIDL stands for Economic Injury Disaster Loans. Because of the pandemic, small business owners, including agricultural businesses, and nonprofit organizations in all states and territories can apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan. Eligibility includes qualified agricultural businesses with 500 or fewer employees. Eligible agricultural businesses are defined as “those businesses engaged in the production of food and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural related industries.” FAS stands for Foreign Agricultural Service. The FAS is a federal agency that deals with overseas programs. These programs include foreign market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection of statistics and market information. The FAS also administers credit guarantees and food aid programs, and helps increase income and food availability in other countries. These are just a small handful of the many, many acronyms and business programs that farmers may have to interact with. For a much more detailed list, see the USDA glossary at https://www.usda.gov/glossary. MFP stands for Market Facilitation Program. The MFP helps farmers deal with financial problems when their products are affected by foreign tariffs. Tariffs can often prevent access to traditional export markets. MFP assistance is available for farmers working with non- specialty crops, dairy, hogs, or specialty crops. Assistance for non-specialty crops (corn, beans, grains, and other common farm crops) is different from one county to the next, and takes overall acreage into account when calculating assistance. Payments are not dependent on which of those crops were planted in previous years, and a producer is only eligible for crops that do not exceed previous plantings. PPP (pandemic related) PPP stands for Paycheck Protection Program, and provides loans to help businesses keep their workforce employed during the pandemic. Borrowers may be eligible for PPP loan forgiveness. The PPP loans come in two phases; a “First Draw” for first-time borrowers, and a “Second Draw” for a second loan if necessary. MFP Continue 4