In addition to stimulus resources available through the Federal Reserve, SBA and other federal agencies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been provided with additional resources that may be available to farmers and rural businesses, including:
- $9.5 billion for USDA to respond to COVID-19, including for providing support to impacted agricultural producers
- USDA’s Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) has an increased borrowing limit, which allows for increased investments in its commodity, conservation, marketing and disaster programs
- $20.5 million for USDA’s Rural Business Program Account to cover the cost of loans for rural business development programs, including its guaranteed loan and grant programs
- USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is relaxing its loan origination and loan servicing procedures, including by extending deadlines for producers to apply for loans or respond to loan actions, and deferring certain acceleration and foreclosure actions
- Extending the term of marketing assistance loans by three months
- Taxpayers who make charitable donations of food commodities could deduct up to 25% of the value from taxable income, an increase from the current limit of 15%
- In general, those with federally-backed mortgaged loans guaranteed by or advanced by USDA may request forbearance, during which no fees, penalties, or interest would accrue. For example, through September 30, 2020, lenders may offer 180-day loan payment deferrals without prior USDA approval for certain loans, including Business and Industry Loan Guarantees, Rural Energy for America Program Loan Guarantees, Community Facilities Loan Guarantees, and Water and Waste Disposal Loan Guarantees.
USDA will make information available at this website as the crisis evolves: https://www.usda.gov/coronavirus