News

Paycheck Protection Program problems persist

Ag lenders experienced some difficulties while assisting farmers who wanted to sign up for the Paycheck Protection Program earlier this week.

Howard Olson with AgCountry Farm Credit Services says the Small Business Administration portal came online Monday morning.

“We had a lot of challenges here, and I’m sure people have heard of other banks having problems too. But yeah, we had a lot of challenges getting applications in, and the system is a little bit better today. But it’s a slow go.”

Compeer Financial chief lending officer Paul Kohls tells Brownfield a lot of farmers who missed out on the first round of PPP dollars have been able to apply this week.

“The roll out was a little bit clunky, and the SBA portal was difficult to work through. But in the last 48 hours we have been able to secure loans for just over a thousand of our farmer clients.”

Kohls says predictions that the Paycheck Protection Program will again run out of money quickly are probably accurate.  He’s encouraging interested farmers to apply as soon as possible.

Howard Olson interview:

Paul Kohls interview: