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USDA reports released Thursday show China has purchased another 1,400 metric tons of U.S. beef and 272,000 tons of U.S. soybeans, demonstrating importers are successfully getting exemptions to the country’s tariffs.

A fresh round of COVID-19 relief should be available to small businesses and farms very soon. The House is set today to clear legislation that will add $321 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program, which has been out of money for a week.

A fresh round of assistance from the Small Business Administration should soon be available to farmers.

USDA’s $19 billion COVID-19 aid package for farmers may fall well short of compensating producers for the estimated damage of the pandemic, and the department has an ambitious and novel plan to distribute USDA-purchased commodities to needy people. 

The novel coronavirus is living up to its name, ushering in a new way of life for America’s food companies, most notably the meat industry.

Expectations for U.S. beef exports to China this year are being tempered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but shipments have already begun and they’re expected to continue strong despite the spread of the virus.

The Senate OKs a bipartisan agreement to infuse the highly popular Paycheck Protection Program with an additional $320 billion while also making farms eligible for a separate disaster loan program for small businesses. 

President Donald Trump assured farmers on Tuesday that the H-2A visa program would not be affected by a temporary immigration ban related to the COVID-19 crisis.

Senate Democrats are demanding answers from the Trump administration on what it is doing to control COVID-19 outbreaks that are shutting down meatpacking plants and threatening other parts of the food supply chain.

Friday’s announcement of $19 billion in coronavirus-related direct payments and commodity purchases was welcome news in farm country, which is reporting a growing level of stress about the pandemic.