Enrollment in the USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance program is off to a good start. “We are using login.gov to help people verify signup online and that went exceptionally well; in fact, it exceeded expectations,” reports Bill Beam, administrator, Farm Service Agency. “You can go into your county office and sign up and that is also going very, very well.” Beam told RRFN there are 11 billion reasons to enroll, referencing the $11 billion in the FBA program for row crop farmers. Some of the early enrollees have already seen the money hit their accounts. Rulemaking is continuing for the specialty crop portion of FBA. Beam said an announcement would be made in “the not too distant future,” but not within the next two weeks.
