Economic Injury Disaster Loans Available to Agricultural Businesses Impacted by COVID-19

From the U.S. Small Business Administration

SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza announced May 4 that agricultural businesses are now eligible for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs.

SBA’s EIDL portal has reopened and is accepting new EIDL applications on a limited basis only to provide relief to U.S. agricultural businesses. For agricultural businesses that submitted an EIDL loan application through the application portal prior to the legislative change, SBA will move forward and process these applications without the need for re-applying.

All other EIDL loan applications that were submitted before the portal stopped accepting new applications on April 15 will be processed on a first-in, first-out basis.

Agricultural businesses include businesses engaged in the legal production of food and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural related industries (as defined by section 18(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 647(b)). Eligible agricultural businesses must have 500 or fewer employees.