Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 5/29/30

Some young and beginning farmers feel excluded from the Agriculture Department’s coronavirus assistance efforts, hamstrung by a complicated application process that does not accommodate small, diversified producers, reports our Ximena Bustillo.

Groups representing this demographic warn that an entire generation of farmers could go bankrupt this year, especially after their request for a portion of funds to be set aside for young and beginning producers has not been granted.

The Agriculture Department predicts that it will receive 1.6 million applications for the Coronavirus Financial Assistance Program.

The application period opened Monday and will run through August. A USDA spokesperson said that a lack of experience with the department should not be a deterrent to applying, and the program is open to all types of producers and farms.

All in the math: Some producers argue the calculation used to determine direct payments is bound to mainly benefit large growers and shuts out many young and beginning farmers with direct sales or CSA business models. Those sales may mean they’re unable to adequately represent their loss, including increases in out-of-pocket costs, to receive enough federal money. The payments are also on a per-crop basis, complicating how diversified farmers could tally losses.