A five-minute summary of AAI, regulation, and industry activities for members of the largest state agribusiness association in the nation.
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REMINDER:
The main office in Des Moines is closed to visitors. AAI staff is still available to help you with your member needs via phone or email. Phones are still being answered during normal business hours. If you'd like to reach a specific member of the staff please visit our
staff listing
online.
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AAI Board Meets To Move Agribusiness Forward, Addresses Effects of COVID-19
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were part of many topics discussed during the regularly scheduled meeting of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa Board of Directors this week. To mitigate against the health concerns from the coronavirus, the board held its meeting on Thursday via teleconference.
The board discussed the emergency proclamations from Governor Reynolds and the actions she has taken to recognize the agriculture industry as critical infrastructure within the state. Progress has been made on many issues related to agriculture, including existing commercial applicators and drivers with CDLs. The association continues to work on how to certify new applicators and drivers.
The board shared how their businesses are addressing the COVID-19 risks, which matched what the association has heard from many agribusinesses which are doing everything in their power to eliminate contact with customers and among employees.
Ongoing topics being addressed by the association include grain deliveries to ethanol plants, CDLs, essential employee letters for ag employees, and the new Small Business Administration loans through the federal CARE Act.
The board also received updates on the building remodeling project, Agribusiness Leadership Academy, and the Agribusiness Showcase & Conference.
New AAI Members
The board approved four new member companies during the meeting – Bunge, Proagrica, Iowa Solutions, and Rechkemmer Ag Enterprises Inc. Welcome to our newest AAI members.
Your Voice Matters!
Members continue to be welcome to join committees and take an active role in the association by providing their voice to topics that concern their businesses. See a full list of committees online:
https://agribiz.org/commitees
A reminder that all committee and board meetings will be held by teleconference until the end of the emergency declaration for COVID-19.
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Support Your Rural Hospitals
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry has been affected by a shortage of the N95 respirators. These respirators are a common variety of personal protection equipment (PPE) used within the agriculture industry to keep employees safe from hazardous materials.
AAI encourages all members who can donate N95 respirators to local healthcare facilities to do so. If your business has extra N95 respirators, contact your local hospital to arrange for pick up of the respirators so local health care providers can safely attend to the needs of sick patients.
Respirator Regulations
Ag facilities need to adhere to OSHA guidelines on wearing respirators with hazardous materials. Because N95 respirators are in short supply, AFIA sent out a reminder about respirator use at facilities and provided a list of possible alternatives to the disposable N95 respirator masks.
Below is a quick checklist on important things to keep in mind when using any kind of respirators in your facility:
- Make sure you have a written respiratory program that complies with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Respiratory Protection Standard. OSHA has published a Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Respiratory Protection Standard, which gives excellent guidance on developing your respiratory program.
- Make sure all employees using respirators in your facility have passed the required medical evaluation prior to using a respirator.
- Make sure all employees using respirators in your facility have completed the required annual fit test for each type of respirator that they are approved to use.
- Make sure you have completed the required annual training of all employees using respirators in your facility.
- Make sure you provide proper storage for all respirators.
- Make sure you have all required records in place for your respirator program.
N95 Alternatives
If your facility is having immediate difficulties sourcing N95 respirators for handling hazardous material due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, contact the state authorities for where your facility is located and inform the agency of your need. If they are unable to assist, then elevate your issue to the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional office.
If you have questions regarding this information, you can contact AFIA by emailing
afia@afia.org.
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AAI COVID-19 Information for Agribusiness
RESTRICTED CDLs
The Iowa Department of Transportation is now issuing Restricted Commercial Drivers Licenses remotely.
If you need to obtain a restricted commercial driver’s license, please email the CDL Program administrators (preferred method) at
cdl.program@iowadot.us, or call your local DOT Service Center.
To limit the number of people who come into the service centers and reduce their potential exposure to COVID-19, the Iowa Department of Transportation will be reviewing applications and issuing restricted commercial driver’s licenses remotely and mailing them out to these customers.
We will share any additional information about the restricted CDL process when we know more. AAI will continue to work with the Iowa DOT to address additional unresolved issues related to CDLs during the COVID-19 Disaster Declaration.
FORGIVABLE LOANS THROUGH THE SMALL BUSINESS PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM
Federal legislators passed the CARE Act which was signed into law last Friday by President Trump. Included in this legislation is the Paycheck Protection Program which provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities.
Fully Forgiven Loans
Funds are provided in the form of loans that will be fully forgiven when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll). Loan payments will also be deferred for six months. No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.
Qualifying Businesses
Small businesses with 500 or fewer employees—including nonprofits, veterans organizations, tribal concerns, self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors— are eligible. Businesses with more than 500 employees are eligible in certain industries.
When to Apply
Starting April 3, 2020, small businesses and sole proprietorships can apply. Starting April 10, 2020, independent contractors and self-employed individuals can apply. There is a funding cap, so a quick response would be prudent.
How to Apply
Businesses may apply through any existing SBA 7(a) lender or through any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating.
All loans will have the same terms regardless of lender or borrower. A list of participating lenders as well as additional information and full terms can be found at www.sba.gov.
See the following documents for more details:
AAI COVID-19 PAGE
The Agribiz.org website has a COVID-19 page with links to articles, emails, and newsletters related to the coronavirus pandemic. Visit
agribiz.org/COVID-19
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Dicamba Training Availiable Online
Online training sessions have been approved for the state of Iowa. Info can be found at
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AAI Calendar of Meetings & Events
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Note:
Until further notice, all committee and board meetings will be held via conference call.
Conference call access information will be listed in calendar invitations.
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Check online calendar for further updates.
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- A major trade deal could be delayed in the pandemic and the latest prospective planting report
- A major Iowa pork event is canceled because of the coronavirus
- Service centers are staying open for farmers during the coronavirus
- There could be a lot of corn planted this year and the Farm Service Agency is staying open to help farmers keep up
Watch episodes from the past week anytime online!
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has roiled the U.S. economy, the Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. In addition to direct payments to individuals of up to $1,200, extended unemployment benefits and federal loan guarantees, the $2 trillion CARES Act provides a number of food- and agriculture-related benefits, including funding to ensure children and low-income families have continued access to nutritious, affordable food and to ensure farmers have the financial resources they need to offset the more immediate economic impacts of the virus. Today’s article reviews the food and agriculture-related provisions of the CARES act.
For the agriculture-related provisions, the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture received $9.5 billion, approximately 19% of the total food and agriculture provisions, to provide financial support to farmers and ranchers impacted by coronavirus. The funding is allocated specifically for specialty crops, producers who supply local food systems and farmers’ markets, restaurants and schools, livestock producers, i.e., cattlemen and women, and dairy farmers.
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Two traditional agriculture states in the USA have had their hemp programs approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The southeastern state of Georgia, and Iowa, which sits in the middle of the country’s vast farm-belt, both have been given the go-ahead on plans they submitted to the federal farming agency.
State officials said 57 farming and 5 processing applications were filed with the Georgia Department of Agriculture during the first four days after licensing opened.
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Calling for a federal investigation, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley questioned Tuesday whether giant meatpacking companies are using the public health pandemic to “gouge” U.S. cattle producers, who have seen prices for their beef fall 3.5% over the past three weeks even as demand has surged.
“During this period of time, through no fault of their own, many farmers in Iowa have seen the prices of their products plummet, something you wouldn’t expect would happen in a crisis,” the Iowa Republican said Tuesday in a call with reporters.
Grassley, who plans to ask the U.S. Justice and Agriculture departments to investigate, said futures prices for live cattle are falling at the same time consumers are flooding grocery stores.
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@GEIGERREPORTS
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STAY ENGAGED WITH AAI
The Agribusiness Association of Iowa is on multiple social media platforms. We publish event and learning session updates on our social media accounts.
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