Billions in coronavirus aid will go to farms. But is it enough to keep farmers afloat?

Ryan Indart says this fall he may have to kill off some of the sheep at his east Clovis ranch.

With restaurants shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic, he has no market for his animals. When a new flock arrives in October, he says, he won’t have enough space in his pasture if his current flock is still there.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced April 29 a $3.6 million program to help farms and food banks stay afloat, coupled with a philanthropy pledge of $15 million. That promise came on the heels of a much larger federal aid package of $19 billion for farmers and ranchers across the country.

But, Indart says, even if he gets the maximum amount of aid, that money will only keep his ranch afloat for about two months at best.

And the money wouldn’t cover his current losses.

Farmers across the central San Joaquin Valley echoed Indart’s concern.

Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobsen expects the problem to grow as the region approaches harvest season, and restaurants and ports remain closed or barely operating. A second round of federal funding is expected, but not yet guaranteed.

The aid will help food banks stay afloat, but isn’t enough for most farmers, according to industry professionals who spoke with The Fresno Bee.

Steve Linkhart, director of Farm to Family at the California Association of Food Banks, said the federal government “turned on a fire hose and they don’t know what they’re pointing it at.”

USDA aid package to farmers

While Newsom’s announcement of help for farmers came more recently, the federal government will provide more significant funds. Neither will suffice to keep farmers from filing for bankruptcy, according to industry insiders who spoke with The Bee.

The $19 billion federal aid package comes in two parts – $16 billion in direct payments to farmers, capped at $125,000 per commodity with an overall limit of $250,000 per farm, and $3 billion for farmers to put together food boxes for needy families.

Farmers who spoke with The Bee complained about the cap, saying it’s not enough for a small rancher like Indart, let alone the many bigger operations that dot the San Joaquin Valley, state and nation.

Individual farms in the Fresno area have already seen losses upwards of millions of dollars, according to Jacobsen.

“With the issues we’ve seen thus far, it’s truly not going to be enough for them to make a difference,” he said.

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, alongside 126 members of the House, urged the president to eliminate the caps for specialty crop, livestock and dairy producers, who have been hit hardest.

USDA has not yet announced the application deadline for the $16 billion in assistance. (The original story incorrectly reported the deadline was May 1, and the money would be seen mid-May.)

Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, a small-farms adviser in Fresno and Tulare counties, said it’s been easier to survive for producers of certain crops or farmers who participate in produce delivery programs. She said smaller farms that do not have staff are facing additional strains to learn about and submit much of the complicated paperwork to receive federal aid.

The challenge is even more significant for farmers for whom English is a second language, like many in the Valley’s Hmong, Latino and Punjabi communities.

Good for food banks, not good enough for farmers

Of the federal aid package, $3 billion will go to paying farmers and ranchers to put together boxes of produce, meat and dairy to feed hungry families.

Officials at the Central California Food Bank don’t know how much of the money their suppliers will be able to access. But they said they were excited about the fuller range of products the program may offer hungry families in the Valley.

“We’re looking at how this could offer a different mix of products, like pre-prepared meats, and those could be game-changers for our clients,” said Jaclyn Pack, food acquisitions manager.

Linkhart, the farm liaison for the California Association of Food Banks, said the government has not established a mechanism for distributing the money equitably. Like the aid payments, he worries that the attempt to give a little to everyone will make little impact.

“Whoever wins, it has to be mindful of the population, the poverty, which I don’t believe they have talked about,” he said. “If you ship an equal amount to every one of them, everybody’s going to be mad. For some, it’s not enough, for some, it’s way too much.”

Additionally, distributors were not required to work with food banks, he said. Instead, it’s up to growers and distributors to get the food out, and he hopes they will partner with food banks to do so.

But more help is on the way.

Newsom’S $3.6 million food bank program will get fresh fruits and vegetables from farms to food banks throughout California, as well as to secure additional refrigeration units for food banks facing capacity issues. That money will increase the shipment of produce to food banks to around 21 million pounds in May.

Billionaire Kat Taylor has pledged to secure an additional $15 million in philanthropic funds.

Thousands of farmers in the Fresno region will benefit from the program, according to Linkhart.

He said the money should be enough to meet food bank demand, which, according to Newsom, has grown by 73% since the start of the pandemic.

The aid still won’t cut it for farmers, according to Cannon Michael, president of Bowles Farming Company in Los Banos.

While they get a pick-and-pack fee, as well as a 15% tax credit, the price that food banks pay for produce has never been enough to cover the full costs of harvest, he said.

“It will get some out of the field, but harvesting is very expensive. No way that offsets very much, but any bit can help,” he said.

Manuela Tobias is a reporter with the Fresno Bee. This article is part of The California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequity and economic survival in California.

This story was originally published May 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Billions in coronavirus aid will go to farms. But is it enough to keep farmers afloat?."