By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every part of our society, and our local farms have felt that impact, too,” Dr. Richard Bailey, who represents the Fincastle District on the Board of Supervisors, said. “As a County with a strong agricultural heritage, I am proud that the Board is able to support our farmers in this time of need.”
To fund the program, $200,000 of the county’s CARES Act relief funds were approved by the board. Grant applications will be accepted online during the month of September.
The Botetourt County COVID-19 Small Business Incentive Grant Program was approved by the Board of Supervisors on June 23 to assist the county’s small businesses with covering losses as a result of the pandemic.
In his report last Tuesday, Ken McFadyen, the county’s director of economic development, said, “Botetourt County’s farm operations are also small businesses and have experienced the effects of decreased customer demand as a result of the pandemic.”
The need for the separate program was explained because the county’s small business incentive grant program requires recipients to have a current Botetourt County business license, which farm operations do not need to secure under the Code of Virginia and county ordinances. It was noted by county staff that farm businesses need most to cover commodity-type losses brought by a loss of customer demand instead of the legal, accounting, marketing services and technology purchases that were outlined in the program that was approved in June.
“Botetourt County’s farm operations are small businesses and have experienced the effects of decreased demand as a result of the pandemic,” the administrator’s comments said. “Many Botetourt County-based farm operations have sought federal assistance to assist with covering operational losses since the pandemic began in March 2020.”
It was also noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has processed 150 Botetourt County grant applications for the “Corona-virus food assistance program.”
“We are also encouraging any farm operation that has not applied for the Farm Service Agency’s
Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to apply by the application deadline of September 11th. We want to assist our farmers who are in need of these programs during this difficult time,” Jean Hazlegrove, county executive director for the Botetourt/Craig/Roanoke FSA County Office, said.
The application and grant award process will work as follows:
- Botetourt-based farm operations qualify for the FSA’s “Corona-virus food assistance program”
- Farm operations that have qualified for the FSA grant could then apply online to the county for an additional grant during the month of September by submitting a copy of the FSA’s grant “deposit confirmation” or a copy of the “approved” FSA grant application. The dollar amount of the deposit confirmation does not need to be shared with the county.
- Farm operation applications would also be asked to release their FSA grant information to the county and to certify in the county online application that the farm operation is based primarily in Botetourt County, the amount of farm losses through September 2020 is not covered entirely by the FSA grant and the farm operation is in compliance with any and all applicable county ordinances.
- Once applications close on September 30, the Botetourt County Department of Economic Development will determine the number of qualifying farm operations and divide the CARES funding amount available by the number of eligible Botetourt County-based farm operations and recommend to the Economic Development Authority’s grant review committee an award of a grant in an amount not to exceed $5,000 per farm operation.
- Eligible farm operation grant recipients will certify in the grant agreement that the amount of the county grant plus the FSA grant does not cover the amount of the losses sustained through September. If the FSA and county grants would exceed losses, the amount of the county grant could be reduced to make the producer whole through the end of September.
- Grant agreements will be executed between the Botetourt County Economic Development Authority and the farm operation and grant funds disbursed before December 30.
“With an agricultural background, I support the efforts of providing some relief to the farming
community who provides backbone services to the world,” Gary Larrowe, Botetourt’s county administrator, said.
