Wisconsin’s coronavirus farmer direct payments issued, another round coming

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Wisconsin’s coronavirus farmer direct payments issued, another round coming

Wisconsin’s Ag Secretary says payments for the state’s coronavirus Farmer Assistance Program are on the way. Randy Romanski says, “The Department of Revenue has mailed payments to those who are eligible and those who requested having the payment mailed to them, and direct deposits are being made today for those who selected direct deposits.”

Romanski tells Brownfield all eligible Wisconsin farmers are getting the same amount. “All eligible applicants who applied during the first round will receive $3,500. There was a sliding scale established, but based off the number of applications received, everybody who got in and applied during that first round will receive $3,500.”

And, he says there will be another round of coronavirus direct payment relief for the state’s farmers with signup from August 10th through the 24th with a very similar application process but with adjusted income eligibility allowing farmers with at least $10,000 gross income in 2019. “We anticipate that there will be a sliding scale for this funding that goes out. We haven’t set the minimum-maximum scale as of this point but payments overall are not expected to be as large because there’s going to be less money available during this second round of applications.”

Romanski says the Department of Revenue is still finalizing round one, but he anticipates there will be around ten million dollars left in Governor Tony Evers’ 50-million-dollar CFAP funding set aside for direct farmer aid.

Romanski tells Brownfield the Governor’s 15-million food security program already has five million available for grants to help with distribution and refrigeration for food banks and the second phase to connect food to people in need is beginning.

Brownfield interview with Randy Romanski 7/15/2020
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