Tag Archives: agriculture

USDA Announces Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

(Washington, D.C., April 17, 2020) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program will take several actions to assist farmers, ranchers, and consumers in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. President Trump directed USDA to craft this $19 billion immediate relief program to provide critical support to our farmers and ranchers, maintain the integrity of our food supply chain, and ensure every American continues to receive and have access to the food they need.

“The American food supply chain had to adapt, and it remains safe, secure, and strong, and we all know that starts with America’s farmers and ranchers. This program will not only provide immediate relief for our farmers and ranchers, but it will also allow for the purchase and distribution of our agricultural abundance to help our fellow Americans in need.”

  1. CFAP will use the funding and authorities provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and other USDA existing authorities. The program includes two major elements to achieve these goals.
  2. CFAP will use the funding and authorities provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and other USDA existing authorities. The program includes two major elements to achieve these goals.

On top of these targeted programs USDA will utilize other available funding sources to purchase and distribute food to those in need.

  • USDA has up to an additional $873.3 million available in Section 32 funding to purchase a variety of agricultural products for distribution to food banks. The use of these funds will be determined by industry requests, USDA agricultural market analysis, and food bank needs.
  • The FFCRA and CARES Act provided an at least $850 million for food bank administrative costs and USDA food purchases, of which a minimum of $600 million will be designated for food purchases. The use of these funds will be determined by food bank need and product availability.

Further details regarding eligibility, rates, and other implementation will be released at a later date.

Additional Background:

USDA has taken action during the COVID-19 national emergency to make sure children and families are fed during a time of school closures and job losses, as well as increase flexibilities and extensions in USDA’s farm programs to ensure the U.S. food supply chain remains safe and secure.

Feeding Kids and Families

  • USDA expanded flexibilities and waivers in all 50 states and territories to ensure kids and families who need food can get it during this national emergency.
  • USDA is partnering with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo, and others to deliver more than 1,000,000 meals a week to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19.
  • USDA authorized Pandemic EBT in Michigan and Rhode Island, a supplemental food purchasing benefit to current SNAP participants and as a new EBT benefit to other eligible households to offset the cost of meals that would have otherwise been consumed at school.
  • USDA expanded an innovative SNAP online grocery purchase pilot program in Arizona and CaliforniaFlorida and Idaho, and DC and North Carolina, in addition to Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Actions to Ensure a Strong Food Supply Chain

Whole of Government Response in Rural America

  • USDA released The COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide (PDF, 349 KB), a first-of-its-kind resource for rural leaders looking for federal funding and partnership opportunities to help address this pandemic.
  • USDA opened a second application window (April 14, 2020 to July 13, 2020) for $72 million of funding under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program.
  • USDA Rural Development lenders may offer 180-day loan payment deferrals without prior agency approval for Business and Industry Loan Guarantees, Rural Energy for America Program Loan Guarantees, Community Facilities Loan Guarantees, and Water and Waste Disposal Loan Guarantees.
  • USDA will use the $100 million provided for the ReConnect Program in the CARES Act to invest in qualified 100 percent grant projects.

For all the information on USDA’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic and resources available, please visit www.usda.gov/coronavirus.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

NEWA and COVID-19

The New York State IPM Program and Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University are committed to providing ongoing support for NEWA online resources across our entire coverage area during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff and programmers are now working remotely to ensure the models and tools critical to your operation are available throughout the 2020 growing season.

Please contact support@newa.zendesk.com any time with problems or questions. Our support staff will create a ticket to track your issue until resolution, within the constraints of current remote working requirements.

Readers in New York State should visit the Cornell Cooperative Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) to find guidance and resources for the Ag community.

Visit the CCE EDEN Website

https://eden.cce.cornell.edu/

Other resources are also available from Cornell University for agricultural businesses.

Food Production, Processing & Safety Questions

https://instituteforfoodsafety.cornell.edu/coronavirus-covid-19/

Employment & Agricultural Workforce Questions

http://agworkforce.cals.cornell.edu/

Cornell Small Farms Resiliency Resources

https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/resources/farm-resilience/

Financial & Mental Health Resources for Farmers

https://www.nyfarmnet.org/

Cornell Farmworker Program

https://www.farmworker.cornell.edu and https://www.trabajadores.cornell.edu (en espanol)

Spanish language video on Corona virus

https://www.trabajadores.cornell.edu/

NEWA announces partnership with Onset Corporation

The New York State IPM Program at Cornell University is pleased to announce that Onset Corporation has joined the NEWA family and will be partnering to integrate HOBO® weather station data used by growers for use with insect pest and plant disease decision support tools at http://newa.cornell.edu.

The HOBO RX3000

Combining HOBO RX3000 weather stations with NEWA’s decision support tools will give farmers access to microclimate monitoring data and real-time crop management decision support, allowing for faster, well-informed farm management decisions. Growers simply select the NEWA data feed after logging onto the HOBOlink® cloud platform and then contact the NEWA Help Desk to complete the onboarding process to http://newa.cornell.edu.

Learn more about the RX3000 NEWA configuration

Onset HOBO RX3000 Benefits

  • Free NEWA access in member states.
  • 5% NEWA discount on weather station equipment purchases.
  • NEWA tool and resource compatibility.
  • Reliable weather monitoring with low-cost data plans.
  • Hobolink® alarm notifications via text.
  • Hobolink® 24/7 data access.
  • Wide area farm coverage with HOBOnet add-on mesh network sensors (optional).

Onset is ready to answer your questions about HOBO RX3000 station configurations suitable for use with the NEWA platform. Visit the Onset NEWA partner page to learn more, or contact designated Onset support staff below with your questions regarding equipment and purchases.

Matt Sharp, Strategic Sales Representative
Environmental & Agricultural Monitoring
Direct: 508-743-3126
Main: 1-800-LOGGERS (564-4377)
matt_sharp@onsetcomp.com

Farm-scale monitoring

Jamie Pearce, Onset’s VP of Marketing and Corporate Development says, “We’re very excited to be integrating our HOBO RX3000 weather station data with NEWA. Not only does it help our agricultural customer base gain actionable insights, but it also delivers the option to leverage our new wireless sensors with the HOBOnet® Field Monitoring System. Now, apple growers to vineyard managers can get a better sense of what’s happening throughout their fields.”

More About Onset

Based on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Onset has been designing and manufacturing its data loggers and monitoring solutions since the company’s founding in 1981. The company’s award-winning HOBO® data logger and weather station products are used around the world in a broad range of monitoring applications, from water and coastal research to indoor and outdoor environmental monitoring. https://www.onsetcomp.com.