Ames, Iowa — Iowa farmers are wrestling with a host of financial and legal issues brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, and the Iowa State University Extension is offering to help.
During a recent webinar, ISU Ag Law Center director Kristine Tidgren said it’s been a challenge for legal experts and producers to interpret exactly what the stimulus and aid packages mean.
(as said) Tidgren says, “One of the biggest legal issues has had to do with interpreting the stimulus laws, the provisions that have tried to provide assistance to farmers who are struggling with low crop prices, trade disruptions, and now on top of it, market disruptions because of COVID.”
She says it’s complicated to navigate the various rules and tax implications of the PPP loans, state Ag Department loans designed to help provide pandemic relief, as well as the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program or C-FAP payments.
(as said) “All of those things are really important for producers to understand to know what’s coming down the pipe.”
Many producers, tenants and landlords are questioning the various aid packages and how they should be handled.
(as said) “Other tax provisions that were made possible by the stimulus package that many people have heard of, the CARES Act in particular, there were lots of tax provisions put in place by that,” Tidgren says. “We’re trying to help producers and landlords understand what those provisions mean for them.”
For more information, visit the ISU Ag Law Center website. https://www.calt.iastate.edu/
