Volume 18, Issue 04

January 28, 2021

Other announcements this week include debt-relief measures for more than 12,000 financially distressed farmers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will temporarily suspend past-due debt collections and foreclosures for farmers borrowing under two major loan programs administered by the Farm Service Agency, administration officials said. The measure is designed to help farmers hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the economy’s slump with about 10% of borrowers qualifying. “USDA and the Biden Administration are committed to bringing relief and support to farmers, ranchers and producers of all backgrounds and financial status, including by ensuring producers have access to temporary debt relief,” Robert Bonnie, the department’s deputy chief of staff, said in a statement. The government is evaluating ways to improve and address borrowing to keep farmers “earning living expenses, providing for emergency needs and maintaining cash flow,” Bonnie said.

As is becoming the norm in this pandemic era, the latest meeting of the Texas Rice Council's Board of Directors took place over Zoom this week. President Tommy Turner presided over the meeting and the group discussed everything from planting intentions to the status of grower's check-off funds and domestic marketing ideas. The meeting lasted two hours and while everyone expressed how well it was organized to allow active participation, the board, which consists of only Texas rice farmers, looks forward to meeting in person again soon once conditions improve.