FARFA is partnering with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and several Texas organizations to administer the Texas portion of Farm Aid‘s nationwide COVID-19 Farmer Resilience Initiative.

Successful applicants will receive a one-time $500 emergency relief payment. Use of the funds is restricted to household expenses, such as groceries, home utilities, medical bills, counseling, or other household expenses not directly related to the commercial operation of the farm or ranch.

Any Texas family farmer or rancher who has been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic and has suffered hardship as a result, is eligible to apply. Family farmers are those (1) where a substantial portion of the family/household income comes from agricultural production and (2) the family is actively engaged in day-to-day farm management and labor.

Rural residents who obtain a small portion of their household income from agricultural products are not eligible. This includes people who are not selling agricultural products (i.e. who are producing primarily for their household consumption) and those who rely primarily on off-farm income.

Find out if you are eligible & apply here:

Apply in English   
Apply in Spanish     

Other sources of help:

• SDA’S CFAP program is providing direct payments to some agricultural producers affected by price declines and additional marketing costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency has already paid out hundreds of millions of dollars, so it’s important to get your application in ASAP if you are producing the types of commodities that are covered. Read more about CFAP here. 
• SBA’s PPP program still has funds, and the rules have been loosened so that you can spend a larger portion on non-payroll expenses and still have the loan forgiven. The amounts are based on payroll, however, so it is only helpful if you have employees. Read more about PPP here. 
• SBA’s EIDL program is open for new applications from agricultural producers ONLY. You can get a grant of up to $10,000 (generally SBA is providing grants of $1,000 per employee up to that cap) and apply for a low-interest loan. Find out more about EIDL here. 
• Read FARFA’s explanation on the PPP and EIDL programs here.