News

Paycheck Protection Program dollars won’t last long

A dairy organization says farmers hoping to take part in the Paycheck Protection Program must move fast.

Alan Bjerga with National Milk Producers Federation says, “The clock is ticking. The applications for this program opened at 10:30 eastern time, 9:30 central, on Monday and they’re probably expected to last probably until the end of Tuesday, maybe into Wednesday.”

Bjerga tells Brownfield the second tranche of 310 billion dollars might be gone as quickly as it arrived.  He also says some banks are having difficulty using the Small Business Administration’s system. “Talk to your banker about it. If this banker isn’t participating in the program, ask that banker what banker may be and get the information as quickly as possible. “Talk to your banker about it. If this banker isn’t participating in the program, ask that banker what banker may be, and get the information as quickly as possible because the demand for this program is unprecedented and the window does close fast.”

There are also media reports about lenders not able to file the loans because their online processing times out as part of the SBA’s limit to the number of applications accepted each hour.

Bjerga says farmers can now also apply for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans through the SBA. “At first, the Small Business Administration was saying that folks who had been in the cue when funds ran out for that program earlier this month, they would have to apply again, but apparently that cue still exists, so that is going to open up, really, any moment in terms of farmers being able to take a look at that program.”

Bjerga says applications for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans do not need to go through a bank and can be done directly on the administration’s website, sba.gov.

National Milk’s website also has more details about these and other assistance programs.