(IARN) — If you looked at this headline and came here looking for an easy answer, I am going to level with you. It is a little bit of a mess. The good news is that there are people and resources who can help you figure out the maze of paperwork and regulations you need to be aware of when you are applying for financial assistance available to farmers and ranchers through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and. Economic Security Act (CARES).
The first two takeaways you need to know is that this situation is ever-evolving. The state employment agencies are being told to do something they have never done before, and that is extending unemployment benefits to self-employed individuals. They just received their official guidelines from the Federal Government a little over a week ago. This is all new to them as well.
On Monday, the Farm Commons resource group held a webinar to try and explain some of these developments to organic farmers across the country. However, many of the topics are not germane to only organic agriculture. The benefits can be extrapolated to conventional agriculture as well. Rachel Armstrong is with Farm Commons. She talks a little bit about the unemployment insurance and how they have been temporarily extended to self-employed individuals.
For more on this story, including comments from Rachel Armstrong, visit the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
