IARN — 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
For more information on this story, including comments from Governor Reynolds’ Ag Policy Advisor Jake Swanson, visit the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
