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COVID-19 Resources for Farmers

Future Harvest is committed to the health and wellbeing of our community, and the staff and board members are thinking about you and your safety during this challenging time.

We understand your usual ways of doing business have been upended, at least temporarily. We hope to help our community by amplifying opportunities this crisis presents and working to mitigate the challenges. Stay safe out there! And thank you for your important service, our communities need healthy and nutritious food now more than ever!

We encourage food producers and food distribution centers to read and implement the Safety Protocols For Food Distribution & Purchases During COVID-19 created by Future Harvest, the Maryland Farmers Market Association, and the Historic Lewes Farmers Market. We have also created this document, Communicating Your Farm's COVID-19 Practices to Customers to help you clearly communicate your COVID-19 safety protocols to your customers. It contains guidelines on what and how to communicate to your customers, examples of website pages and messages farmers have sent out, and a template for emailing or posting your farm's COVID-19 response.

We are actively compiling resources additional for farmers and producers. Please find them here, check back often, and if you discover a great resource that we have not, email it to us and we will share it here.

Find A Farmer or Market Directory Map

We’re learning that there is nothing like a pandemic to drive home the importance of a robust, regional food system and the healthy, safe, local food such a system can dish up. Together with the Maryland Farmers Market Association (MDFMA), Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), and Delmarva Grown, we've built the Find a Farmer or Market Directory Map to help consumers connect with farmers and markets where they can stock up on safe, fresh food. Fill out this form to get your farm on the map today. The Young Farmers Coalition has 


Direct Sales Software Platforms 

The National Young Farmers Coalition has put together a wonderful document outlining the features and prices of direct sales software systems for farmers. View it here. 

Barn2door
Cropolis
CSAware
Farmers Web
Farmigo
GrazeCart
Grown By
HarvestHand
Harvie
Local Line
LocallyGrown
Local Food Marketplace
Local Orbit
MarketMaker
Open Food Network
Reko
Shopify
WhatsGood
Woo Commerce
1000EcoFarms


4/23 Strategies For Managing Financial Risk During COVID-19

Slides from the webinar here. 

3/25 COVID-Call for Famers hosted by Future Harvest

Slides from the call: One Acre Farm & Food Safety

Relief Funds for Farmers

  • FACT Emergency Mini Grants for Livestock and Poultry Farmers will award $500 on a rolling basis until funding is depleted. Eligible applicants own or are employed by a farm that raises livestock (ruminants, swine) and/or poultry and express a commitment to raising their animals using humane management practices. Farmers can request mini-grants for materials, services or equipment that would help them to transition to an online or alternative sales strategy (e.g. home delivery, on-farm sales), or for other projects that would help their farm business to maintain sales during this crisis. Apply here.

  • USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Rapid Response to Novel Coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) Impacts Across Food and Agricultural Systems. Grant support via the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) to advance knowledge in both fundamental and applied sciences important to agriculture which includes six priority areas: Plant Health and Production and Plant Products; Animal Health and Production and Animal Products; Food Safety, Nutrition, and Health; Bioenergy, Natural Resources, and Environment; Agriculture Systems and Technology; and Agriculture Economics and Rural Communities. Closing date November 18. Apply here.

  • USDA Farmers to Families Food Box. USDA will partner with regional and local distributors, whose workforce has been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels, and other food service entities, to purchase fresh produce, dairy, and meat. USDA will award contracts for the purchase of the agricultural products, the assembly of commodity boxes and delivery to identified non-profit organizations that can receive, store and distribute food items. Apply here.

  • USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) for Specialty Crops - As part of CFAP, the USDA will provide $16 billion in direct payments to specialty crop producers based on losses where prices and market supply chains have been impacted. Producers that fall into one of the following categories may be eligible to receive a direct payment: Specialty Crops, Row Crops, Livestock, Wool and Dairy Sales with a price loss of 5% or more between January 15 and April 15, 2020. Details on eligible crops and understanding CFAP here. Applications are open until August 28, 2020 with payouts on first come, first serve basis. Apply here.

Federal Resources

US Department of Agriculture

Centers for Disease Control

National Institutes of Health

World Health Organization

 

Resources by State

Maryland

Virginia

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the new Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to provide $16 billion in aid to farmers who suffered economic losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, making it the largest single payment in history to our nation’s farmers.
Today through August 28, 2020, farmers that meet eligibility requirements may apply. Funds will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis, so if you do, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. 


The following summary is based on information provided by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Read more about required documentation,  expected payouts, farmer eligibility requirements, and what to prepare before applying, click here. Read more HERE

 

Health Department Links:

Maryland

Virginia
DC

Delaware

West Virginia
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

CDC COVID-19 Index (This map links to state-specifc public health departments)

 

Asset Mapping

Mid-Atlantic Emergency Feeding Contact - intended to keep track of all parties in the region working to respond to this crisis.

 

Resources for Farmers

 

Advocacy

 

Upcoming Webinars

Coming soon...

Articles and Guides