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Evers: Plans in the Works for Another Farm Grant Program
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 06/08/2021

Wisconsin agriculture producers may soon be able to sign-up for another grant program that would share federal funds from the American Rescue Plan with struggling farmers in the Badger State. Gov. Tony Evers told state agriculture reporters on Monday that he's talking with Wisconsin commodity groups and farm organizations about offering a new grant sign-up similar to the Wisconsin Farm Support Program, which disbursed over $50 million to 18,000 applicants last summer.

"First, we want to get the small business one (Wisconsin Tomorrow Small Business Recover Grant) out ASAP and then begin the process of looking at getting some money out to the farmers in the state," Evers told Wisconsin Ag Connection.

The governor said he doesn't expect the criteria of the next round of grants to be much different than the 2020 program. That's when farmers were given checks and direct deposits of $3,500 after the first sign-up period. When the deadline passed without using all of the available funding, a second round was offered with looser income restrictions.

No other details on a potential 2021 program have been finalized yet. Wisconsin has received $5.7 billion this year from the federal ARP compared to $2 billion from the CARES Act of 2020.

Meanwhile, Gov. Evers also defended his recent comments about not ending the additional $300 in weekly unemployment benefits, despite many farmers and small business owners claiming the money is resulting in less applicants looking for work.

"I look to the Department of Workforce Development's evidence," he said. "Our unemployment rate is about the same as it was prior to the pandemic and we know we have had shortages before the pandemic. Just taking $300 bucks away from people that may not be able to work anyway is not what we're going to do."

Last week, Evers made headlines when he said he 'doesn't see any evidence' showing that the extra payments are causing people to remain on unemployment rather than applying for jobs. Republican lawmakers and business groups, such as the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, are calling for an end to the extra benefits.


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