Ag News From The Nation's Only Full-Time Farm Station
According to the Economic Research Service, 65 percent of Paycheck Protection Program loans that went to agriculture were to row crop operations and the remaining 35 percent was disbursed to livestock operations.
For many small and rural businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program authorized last year by Congress and administered through the Small Business Administration provided a lifeline in a time of nationwide lockdowns.
The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll and was part of the CARES program passed by Congress in response to the coronavirus economic shutdown.
As small businesses and agricultural operations continue to struggle with the effects of a global economic shutdown, those who accepted loans through the government’s Paycheck Protection Program have been waiting for weeks to hear whether those loans would be forgiven.
In an effort to stave off a complete collapse of the American economy, Congress passed the CARES Act which provided $525 billion in loans through a program known as the Payroll Protection Program.
Small business spending fell sharply for the second straight quarter due to a significant drop in revenues caused by pandemic lockdowns as spending shifted to debit cards.
