Smaller Farmers and Ranchers Find New PPP Opportunities

WASHINGTON, DC – Enrollment is open for the next round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The program, authorized originally in the 2020 CARES Act, was reauthorized recently to re-appropriate the unused funds from the first round.

With around $140 million to invest, the Small Business Administration (SBA) created new avenues for small farmers and ranchers who file a Schedule F for tax purposes, to benefit.

In the first round, producers were required to report net profit (Schedule F, line 35) to determine payroll for an operation with no employees.

Now, farmers may use gross income (Schedule F, line 9) instead for the purposes of determining payroll for the program.

There is a $100,000 gross income limit, which would produce a PPP loan of $20,833.

If a producer’s gross income is higher than $100,000, the producer will be limited to $100,000 to calculate salary, which effectively means one may qualify for a PPP loan of up to $20,833.

As was the case in the first round of the PPP, if the borrower meets certain requirements, the loan will be forgiven by the SBA.

Most local lenders who participated originally in the PPP will also be providing loans in this second round.

The closing date for new applications is March 31, 2021. For More Information, visit SBA.gov
(SOURCE: All Ag News)