(San Antonio, TX) Farmers are eager to both utilize modern technology to expedite the Farmer Bridge Assistance payments and to streamline the process and timeline for getting the dollars into their bank accounts. USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator Bill Beam told Mick Kjar at Commodity Classic that over a third of the over $11 billion allocated for farmers to bridge the gap between operating costs and selling their crop have already been delivered to farmers bank accounts.
Over 39,000 of the approximately 150,000 applicants have been processed as of the afternoon of February 27th. The electronic process is handled through the portal called ‘login.gov’ used by the VA, the IRS and other federal agencies. When producers digitally sign, their county office is immediately notified, it can be approved in real time and the funds delivered to a farmers bank account immediately.
This is part of the modernization process underway at USDA to streamline and reduce redundant paperwork farmers and FSA county offices have been burdened with for years. Thursday USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the One Farmer, One File initiative to digitize data collection at USDA.
