Central Region Greenhouse and Nursery News
COVID-19 Update
Exciting Things are Coming
During this time at home I have been stepping out of my comfort zone and learning new technology. Please watch my video to learn about new things coming to the central region greenhouse and nursery program.

Extension Launches COVID-19 Videos
for Spanish-Speaking Farm Community
The NC State Extension Farmworker Health and Safety Education Program has developed a series of introductory videos in Spanish focusing on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and farmworkers. They were developed as a resource for farmers, farm labor contractors and farmworkers to learn about the novel coronavirus and to promote preventative behavior within the overall farming community.

CARES Act Assistance Package for Agriculture

On April 17, USDA unveiled details of the much-anticipated CARES Act assistance package for agriculture, which includes $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers and $3 billion in food product purchases for distribution. I enquired with Farm Bureau to see if horticulture crops were included in this package. I received the following response.

That is still a bit uncertain. Horticulture was not directly referenced in the CFAP program, but there is $500 million for “other”. Every indication from USDA is that they are trying to be inclusive, and that there might be an opportunity for these other producers to prove their losses to USDA. The best advice we have been given by USDA is to tell producers to keep extremely thorough records of losses. There will also very likely be future funding packages that may be able to include these producers.


Paycheck Protection Program

Congress has been working hard on crafting new legislation to allocate more funding to the Paycheck Protection Program for several days. On Tuesday, April 21 reports emerged that a final agreement was reached to extend an additional $300B in funding to the program.

The legislation will also specifically open the EIDL program to agricultural producers. While nurseries were already included in the underlying program, other horticultural businesses will now be able to apply for the $10,000 EIDL advances and $15,000 low-interest loans through the SBA. Both chambers of Congress will likely agree to the measure soon with the President signing the measure into law as early as this week. Banks are expected to begin accepting applications again as soon as the measure is made law, however demand for the program is high, and some estimates have these additional funds lasting for as little as two days.

If you have been unable to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program, you will need to apply as soon as possible once the legislation is enacted.

Clean WateR3:
A Resource for all Your Water Questions

Did you know that there is a centralized resource where you get common questions answered as well as become connected to the best greenhouse water quality experts? Clean WateR3 (Figure 1) was a federally funded Specialty Crops Research Initiative grant focused on research and outreach to help growers Reduce, Remediate and Recycle irrigation water. 

General COVID-19 Information
While these are not greenhouse and nursery specific topics, I thought they were important to share. I hope you and your family find them helpful.

2020 Census Operational Adjustments Due to COVID-19

It's not too late to respond to the census if you have not done so already. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the U.S. Census Bureau is adjusting 2020 Census operations.Under this plan, the Census Bureau would extend the window for field data collection and self-response to October 31, 2020.

Stacey Jones | NC Cooperative Extension | 704-920-3310 | 704-920-3323 | stacey_jones@ncsu.edu | https://cabarrus.ces.ncsu.edu/profile/stacey-jones/ |