USDA’s Farm and Food Worker Relief Grant Program is funding a $600 stimulus payment.
Meatpackers and farmworkers are eligible to receive the funds.
In addition to compensating workers who’ve incurred unexpected costs due to the pandemic, the stimulus payment will also help pay workers who have taken unpaid leave or purchased their protective gear, The Sun report.
The Farm and Food Worker Relief Grant Program differ from other grant programs in a few ways.
Individual farmers can’t apply directly to the program.
Grant applications are only accepted from state agencies, tribal entities, and nonprofits with experience providing support or relief services to farmworkers or meatpackers.
Funding awarded ranges from $5 million to $50 million.
How to Receive Your Payment
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will announce grant recipients this summer.
Once they receive funding, the selected organizations and groups will then distribute the $600 relief payments to frontline farmworkers and meatpackers.
Meanwhile, farmers and meatpackers are encouraged to visit the USDA site this summer to learn which organizations receive funding.
This list can be used to identify and contact the appropriate awardee for information on how to request a relief payment and when relief payments are available.
It may take time for grantees to establish their programs once awarded funds.
Funds may not be available for relief payments immediately after the USDA AMS announcement.
How Do Organisations Apply?
The 2022 Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program applications are now closed due to the March 10, 2022 submission deadline.
The USDA currently expects to announce and post the awardees on its website in summer 2022, once all applications are reviewed.