Just as virus-spooked consumers have rushed to grocery stores to stockpile everything from toilet paper to pasta, farmers raising America’s cattle, hogs, and chickens have filled their bins with feed, fearing the spread of the coronavirus would disrupt their supply chains. Keeping America’s 95 million cows, 77 million pigs, and 9 billion chickens fed isn’t as simple as it may seem. (Bloomberg)

The rush is on for farmers looking to stake their claim on a new trove of stimulus funds earmarked for agriculture. Perdue’s challenge is to get money into the hands of farmers, who are hemorrhaging profits and increasingly dumping their products, as fast as possible — but without skewing their business decisions like which crops to plant or drawing any charges of political favoritism. (Politico)

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says USDA wants to provide relief from the COVID-19 crisis to eligible farm sectors “sooner rather than later,” but the department will have to wait until this summer at the earliest to distribute an additional $14 billion in aid. (Agri-Pulse)

 The U.S. Treasury has provided an FAQ on the Paycheck Protection Program, which you can find here.

Just as virus-spooked consumers have rushed to grocery stores to stockpile everything from toilet paper to pasta, farmers raising America’s cattle, hogs, and chickens have filled their bins with feed, fearing the spread of the coronavirus would disrupt their supply chains. Keeping America’s 95 million cows, 77 million pigs, and 9 billion chickens fed isn’t as simple as it may seem. (Bloomberg)

The American ethanol industry is cutting production like never before as coronavirus lockdowns keep drivers off the roads, crushing demand for fuel. Output of corn-based biofuel plunged by a record 20% to an average daily rate of 672,000 barrels. That’s the lowest rate since the Energy Information Administration began publishing weekly data in mid-2010. (Bloomberg)