On Monday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, member of the Senate Agriculture Committee held a video press conference to announce legislation to provide economic relief for small farmers suffering financial losses due to reduced demand and supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“While the Cares Act took some steps to provide emergency farm aid, small farms still have no idea when or if they will receive any of the money,” Gillibrand said. “Without full support, small farms, many of which already operate on thin margins, decreasing income, and increasing debt will not be able to survive this crisis.”

The relief for America’s Small Farmers Act will provide support for small farmers suffering from reduced operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Family farms have seen minimal small business relief under the Cares Act and struggle to access emergency federal farm aid allocated to the USDA.

“The Relief for America’s Small Farmer’s Act will provide direct relief to nearly 40,000 small and medium farmers who have loans with the FSA,” Gillibrand said. “This legislation will help rescue these farmers by providing a one-time debt forgiveness of up to $250,000 across three types of USDA FSA loans. Direct farm operating loans, direct farm ownership loans, and emergency loans, even if these loans were in default prior to the coronavirus outbreak.”

Currently, farm bankruptcies are at an eight year high and net farm income has dropped by nearly half since 2013. The financial struggles of more than 30,000 New York farmers has only been exacerbated by the current crisis, which has devastated supply chains, as schools and restaurants have been forced to close.

“I’m now reaching out to all of the Agricultural Committee members, Democrats and Republicans, this week to try to find strong bi-partisan support,” Gillibrand said. “We’ll know by the end of the week if we’ll have it.”

The Relief for America’s Small Farmers Act will provide direct relief to the nation’s most vulnerable farmers to alleviate debt, keep farms open, and fortify the nation’s food supply. The bill will address more than $2.8 billion in loans held by USDA Farm Services Agency (FSA) for nearly 40,000 small and medium farmers. To benefit from the new legislation, farms must have a current loan from the FSA.

“As long as a farmer meets USDA broad definition of actively engaged farming, which most do, they’ll be eligible,” Gillibrand said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re a dairy farmer, specialty crop or rogue crop farmer, the overwhelming majority of these farms will be small farms who haven’t been able to benefit from programs such as the Market Facilitation Program.”