Delgado Champions Farmers With Relief Bill

Dairy Exports Headed for Recovery, Del Co Farm Bureau President Projects

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On May 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary announced that agricultural producers are now eligible for the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs in a second round of funding via the federal CARES Act. The SBA’s application portal closed on April 15, after running out of funds. With the portal reopening on May 4, farmers and agricultural producers, who were excluded from the first round of funding, will be given first dibs on a new round of funding made available under the economic injury program. 

Congressman Antonio Delgado, representing New York’s 19th Congressional District which includes Delaware County, led an 86 bipartisan member effort to include small farmers in the EIDL program following the initial passage of the CARES Act. 

“Small Business Administration (SBA) is taking a long overdue step to open the EIDL Advance/Loan portal for small farmers and other agricultural enterprises. While I am disappointed that small farmers were excluded from the first round of EIDL funding, I’m pleased that after leading my colleagues in calling for this change, the SBA will give our agricultural businesses the opportunity to apply for these needed funds,” Delgado said.

SBA will process applications for farmers who had applied for round one funding, without the need for re-applying. All other EIDL loan applications that were submitted prior to April 15 will then be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

In furtherance of his work on behalf of agriculture producers, Delgado, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, introduced the Relief for America’s Small Farmers Act along with Congressional representatives from New York, New Jersey and Vermont. The bill, if passed, would provide one-time debt forgiveness of up to $250,000 for farmers who hold a loan with the USDA. 

“The Relief for America’s Small Farmers Act provides a critical lifeline for our small farmers through debt forgiveness across three types of USDA FSA loans - Direct Farm Operating loans, Direct Farm Ownership loans and Emergency loans - allowing more small farmers to remain operational during COVID-19 and continue to support our local food supply and farm economy,” Delgado said.

The number of farmers in Delaware County who are eligible for loan forgiveness was not provided after several telephone and email requests to both the Delaware County Farm Service Agency and state FSA representatives.

Farms and other agri-businesses are considered essential businesses, and overwhelmingly in Delaware County, they are small businesses. Farmers have stepped up during the COVID-19 crisis and face the challenge of keeping food production flowing at a critical time, while at the same time trying to keep their businesses afloat.

“The situation for our farms is dire,” Delgado said. “Our dairy farmers are dumping milk.”

Delaware County Farm Bureau President Duane Martin explained that milk dumping is a result of the COVID-19-fueled slow-down at milk processing plants. Workers, Martin said, are being sent home and placed in quarantine if they have high temperatures, whether or not they have symptoms. That has resulted in a shortage of workers - not just in milk plants, but in meat plants, Martin said.

Milk was dumped, Martin further explained, because processing facilities had no room to store the milk.

Farmers are on edge, Martin said. “They are worried about losing their markets.”

However, there is a cause for optimism. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered an end to milk dumping, Martin said. State and the federal governments will now make purchases for food banks and other food programs that will curtail the need for dumping, he explained.

Martin, who is also a member of Delgado’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, praised legislator efforts to assist farmers during the global health pandemic.

Another silver lining to the lingering cloud over the dairy industry is that the dairy export market appears to be headed for recovery, Martin said; noting President Donald Trump and the Dairy Export Council have recently struck a deal to alleviate restrictions on exports to Mexico.

New York’s 19th Congressional District is home to nearly 5,000 farm operations that are essential to the economy. 

“Rest assured I am beating the drum and will be a very loud voice to support our farmers,” Delgado said. “It will remain my focus to support our family farms through the district which are the backbone of our economy.”