SBA has just opened its Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance application portal to agricultural businesses. See attached press release. Due to the already large number of EIDL applications already on hand and the finite availability of funding, SBA is only accepting EIDL Loan and Advance applications from agricultural businesses with 500 or fewer employees. *
Agricultural businesses are those “businesses engaged in the production of food and fiber, ranching, and raising of livestock, aquaculture, and all other farming and agricultural related industries.” If you are an agricultural business or believe your business qualifies under this definition, you are encouraged to apply.
Agricultural operations were not previously eligible for EIDL assistance, but when supplemental EIDL funding was added to the program on 3/24, EIDL eligibility rules were expanded to include agricultural operations. If you previously applied for EIDL assistance for your agricultural operation, you do not need to reapply.
For more information, https://www.sba.gov/page/disaster-loan-applications#section-header-0. The EIDL application portal is here: https://covid19relief.sba.gov/#/
SBA is continuing its processing of all the existing EIDL applications on hand that were submitted through April 15.
* There is one exception to the rule limiting new applications to agricultural businesses. Any business that applied in the early rounds of EIDL applications and received an application # starting with “2” (i.e., prior to 3/30 when the EIDL application platform was unstable), you should re-apply now to have your previously submitted application recognized and processed in the order submitted.
