for California Farm Bureau

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt lives and livelihoods, Congress passed and President Trump signed a package of stimulus measures intended to help Americans cope. The 5,500-page package contains many provisions important to California farmers, ranchers and rural residents.

The stimulus provisions include $13 billion in assistance to help U.S. livestock, poultry, dairy and crop farmers recover from COVID-19 disruptions.

The package commits no less than $1.5 billion to purchase food and agricultural products for distribution to people in need — especially fresh produce, meat and dairy products. Money from the same fund may also be used for loans and grants to small and midsized food processors or distributors, farmers markets and individual producers to respond to COVID-19, including measures to protect employees.

The new package includes adjustments to the existing Coronavirus Food Assistance Program for farmers and ranchers whose operations were directly affected by the pandemic. It adds funding to the existing Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and Local Agriculture Market Program to address challenges caused by COVID-19.

The stimulus package adds another round of funding for the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses keep employees on their payrolls. The program has been improved for farmers who file as sole proprietors and has expanded eligibility to businesses that suffered at least a 25% cut in year-to-year gross revenue, rather than 50%.

The PPP will now include costs to adapt to the pandemic — including purchase of personal protective equipment for employees — among eligible expenses (see story). The program has been modified to serve the smallest businesses and better assist independent restaurants. The PPP program still does not allow farm labor contractors to apply; Farm Bureau will continue to advocate for their inclusion.

In provisions affecting the livestock and meat sectors, the stimulus package provides $1 billion for contract livestock and poultry growers, to cover up to 80% of pandemic-related losses. It provides for payments to producers who lost livestock and poultry due to insufficient processing capacity during the pandemic, and includes additional inventory-based payments for cattle ranchers. The bill provided $60 million for meat and poultry processors to help them qualify for federal inspection and interstate shipments.

The package contains a number of wildfire-related provisions, including $3.7 billion in wildfire funding; of that, $2.5 billion represents an emergency fund for fire suppression, should other money run out. The law also directs federal agencies to estimate the federal investment required to treat and restore all the acres classified as being at high or very high wildfire risk.

Farm Bureau will continue to advocate for reauthorization of the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus, for farmers and ranchers who have suffered losses from wildfires and other natural disasters; WHIP+ was not included in the stimulus package.

Water-related provisions in the package included Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act recommended funding for a number of California water projects, such as Sites Reservoir, Friant-Kern Canal and Delta-Mendota Canal improvements, the Sacramento regional water bank and others. The package provides $5.1 million for Klamath River habitat conservation.

The California Farm Bureau will be monitoring the implementation of stimulus programs in the coming weeks and months, to assure California farmers, ranchers and their employees can apply for and make use of the programs as needed. We will continue to advocate for programs that can speed rural California’s recovery from the pandemic and other disasters.

Sara Arsenault is director of federal policy, Sara Neagu-Reed is associate director and Erin Huston is a federal policy consultant for the California Farm Bureau.

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The Branquinho family has long been in the cattle business and are widely known for their involvement in the rodeo industry as Luke Branquinho is a five-time world champion steer wrestler. 

The Branquinhos are expanding into a different side of the cattle business, now selling their own brand of beef called White Stone Premium Beef. 

“We started kicking around the idea last year of selling beef and with the pandemic it was actually the perfect timing to do it,” Luke Branquinho said. “With most of the rodeos shut down, I had time to get the business going with a friend based in Weatherford, Texas, where all the beef is processed.” 

John and Luke Branquinho are multi-generation cattle ranchers from the Los Alamos area.
Photo contributed

Branquinho said that all their beef is sourced from American cattle ranchers, including from their own herd, and looks at it as a way to support other ranchers during this time. 

“We were hoping to sell mostly to restaurants and such, but with all the eateries shut down we started promoting it online and it has really taken off,” Branquinho said. “I am so glad that people are enjoying it.” 

Branquinho has a long history in ranching. He is a sixth-generation Californian, and his great-great-great-great-grandfather on his mother’s side was José Francisco Ortega, the first captain of El Presidio de Santa Bárbara, which was established in 1782. On his father’s side, Branquinho’s great-grandparents came to the Santa Maria Valley in the 1800s and were cattle ranchers. Up until last year the Branquinhos were based in Los Alamos, but they recently moved “into town” in Los Olivos. 

“Ranching is not an easy lifestyle, and I look at it as you get out of it as much hard work as you put into it,” Branquinho said. “I get to work outside with my family and raise my kids the same way I was raised and it can’t get any better.” 

Along with White Stone, the Branquinhos also have GoldStar Wagyu Cattle, which is 100 percent Japanese genetics but raised on their ranch.

Branquinho said that all of the beef from White Stone Premium Beef is sourced from American cattle ranchers, including from their own herd
Photo contributed

Branquinho said that they are shipping their beef all around the country and he is quickly learning the beef sales game and how to get beef from his ranch in Los Olivos to the East Coast without it spoiling. 

“I would say that my favorite cut is the Rib Eye, but I am really enjoying the tri-tip and the New York cuts. Just put a little Susie Q’s seasoning and slap on the grill and you’re good to go,” he laughed. 

Susie Q’s is the local brand of Santa Maria Style Seasoning that pretty much everyone on the Central Coast uses for seasoning their meat and vegetables. 

When he isn’t peddling beef, Branquinho is usually found working on the family ranch with his sons Cade, Jameson and Bear and practicing for the next rodeo season. His wife Lindsay works just as hard raising their three boys and running her shop Favour Boutique in Santa Ynez. She is not one to shy away from loading hay and drives the truck which pulls the steer dummy that Branquinho uses to practice steer wrestling. 

“We all pitch in and get the job done,” Branquinho said. “Cade has been great willing to help with any chore and Jameson has been starting to show interest in computer work and he’s just so smart. We can all count on Bear for a laugh and his roping skills are amazing.” 

Photo by Lauren Maeve Photography
The whole Branquinho family loves the ranching lifestyle. Pictured is Luke and Lindsay with their children Bear, Jameson and Cade.

They all love spending time with family and being outdoors, going for horseback rides and being in the arena practicing. 

“This rodeo season will be tough with the pandemic shutting a lot of the rodeos down,” Branquinho said. “In order to qualify for the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) in December and to compete next year you have to gross a certain amount, which will be really hard with the limited opportunities.” 

For more information on the beef company visit www.whitestonepremiummeats.com or visit Facebook and search GoldStar Wagyu Cattle. 

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently announced details of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to deliver relief to America’s farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. 

“We want to thank Secretary Perdue for his hard work, and his staff has done an excellent job putting this program together,” said Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau president. “And we want to thank Congress for thinking about agriculture too and delivering it to your desk for you to sign. So, many thanks for helping the people that feed the American people, and we look forward to continuing to work with you, Mr. Trump. We appreciate.” 

Beginning May 26, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through the Farm Service Agency (FSA), started accepting applications from agricultural producers who have suffered losses. CFAP provides vital financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a 5-percent-or-greater price decline due to COVID-19 and face additional significant marketing costs as a result of lower demand, surplus production, and disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities.

Farmers and ranchers will receive direct support, drawn from two possible funding sources. The first source of funding is $9.5 billion in appropriated funding provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability (CARES) Act to compensate farmers for losses due to price declines that occurred between mid-January 2020 and mid-April 2020, and provides support for specialty crops for product that had been shipped from the farm between the same time period but subsequently spoiled due to loss of marketing channels. The second funding source uses the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to compensate producers for $6.5 billion in losses due to on-going market disruptions.

Non-Specialty Crops and Wool

Non-specialty crops eligible for CFAP payments include malting barley, canola, corn, upland cotton, millet, oats, soybeans, sorghum, sunflowers, durum wheat and hard red spring wheat. Wool is also eligible. Producers will be paid based on inventory subject to price risk held as of Jan. 15. A payment will be made based on 50 percent of a producer’s 2019 total production or the 2019 inventory as of Jan. 15, whichever is smaller, multiplied by the commodity’s applicable payment rates.

Livestock

Livestock eligible for CFAP include cattle, lambs, yearlings and hogs. The total payment will be calculated using the sum of the producer’s number of livestock sold between Jan. 15 and April 15, multiplied by the payment rates per head, and the highest inventory number of livestock between April 16 and May 14, multiplied by the payment rate per head.

Dairy

For dairy, the total payment will be calculated based on a producer’s certification of milk production for the first quarter of calendar year 2020 multiplied by a national price decline during the same quarter. The second part of the payment is based a national adjustment to each producer’s production in the first quarter.

Specialty Crops

For eligible specialty crops, the total payment will be based on the volume of production sold between Jan. 15 and April 15; the volume of production shipped, but unpaid; and the number of acres for which harvested production did not leave the farm or mature product destroyed or not harvested during that same time period, and which have not and will not be sold. Specialty crops include, but are not limited to, almonds, beans, broccoli, sweet corn, lemons, iceberg lettuce, spinach, squash, strawberries and tomatoes. A full list of eligible crops can be found on farmers.gov/cfap. Additional crops may be deemed eligible at a later date.

Eligibility

There is a payment limitation of $250,000 per person or entity for all commodities combined. Applicants who are corporations, limited liability companies or limited partnerships may qualify for additional payment limits where members actively provide personal labor or personal management for the farming operation. Producers will also have to certify they meet the Adjusted Gross Income limitation of $900,000 unless at least 75 percent or more of their income is derived from farming, ranching or forestry-related activities. Producers must also be in compliance with Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions.

Applying for Assistance

Producers can apply for assistance beginning on May 26, 2020. Additional information and application forms can be found at farmers.gov/cfap. Producers of all eligible commodities will apply through their local FSA office. Documentation to support the producer’s application and certification may be requested. FSA has streamlined the signup process to not require an acreage report at the time of application and a USDA farm number may not be immediately needed. Applications will be accepted through August 28, 2020.

Payment Structure

To ensure the availability of funding throughout the application period, producers will receive 80 percent of their maximum total payment upon approval of the application. The remaining portion of the payment, not to exceed the payment limit, will be paid at a later date as funds remain available.

USDA Service Centers are open for business by phone appointment only, and field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. While program delivery staff will continue to come into the office, they will be working with producers by phone and using online tools whenever possible. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with the FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or any other Service Center agency are required to call their Service Center to schedule a phone appointment. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.

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Central Coast children and families can mosey on down to the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum on Sunday, Aug.  27 for a free “Day at the Ranch” in honor of museum founder R.H. Tesene. The event, which runs from 12 to 4 p.m., will feature cattle roping, brand making, and other ranching-themed activities.

“R.H. Tesene Day is a fun, unique way for kids to have a hands-on ranching experience,” Program Director Amy Blasco said. “This annual event is always a pleasure to host because not only do we get to provide a free day to the community, but we also get to pay homage to the wonderful history of our valley and our museum.”

Volunteer Chuck Glines will teach kids how to rope cattle, and there will be a special visit from miniature horse Little Bear of Los Flores Ranch Park. Other activities include learning how to make a custom brand, ranching-themed crafts and games, and barbeque and kettle corn for sale by G. Brothers Smokehouse.

This free community day is in honor of R.H. Tesene, a well-known real estate investor and entrepreneur in the Santa Maria Valley. Mr. Tesene’s generous donation allowed us to move into the much larger space on McClelland Street 13 years ago, and his BBQ Hall of Fame is a popular fixture in the museum. The event is made possible by the Santa Maria Breakfast Rotary.

Located at 705 S. McClelland St., the Discovery Museum is fun for all ages, with 13,000 square feet of “please touch” exhibits, weekly programs and special events that explore ourselves, our valley, our world and beyond. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Discover the power of play at the only children’s museum in Santa Barbara County.

For more information about membership, programs, and events, visit smvdiscoverymuseum.org or call 928-8414.

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Central Coast native and former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado is being considered for Secretary of Agriculture, replacing Secretary Tom Vilsack as he left the Agriculture Department a week before his tenure ends and before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Vilsack, who has led USDA for eight years and was President Barack Obama’s longest-serving Cabinet secretary, told employees in an email that Friday is his final day. The email did not say why he was leaving early. He has said he wants to remain involved with agriculture after leaving government, but has not detailed those plans.

As Vilsack leaves the department, some in farm country are worried that agriculture may be a low priority for the new administration. It is the only Cabinet position Trump has not moved to fill, yet rural voters were key to delivering him the presidency.

Farm-state lawmakers in Congress say they are eagerly awaiting the decision.

“We brought him home,” Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, the Republican chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Thursday of delivering on Trump’s win. “Farmers, ranchers and small town America brought him home. So obviously they’d like to see a secretary of Agriculture that would be their champion. That hasn’t occurred yet. So we hope it will.”

According to exit polls conducted for AP and television networks by Edison Research, about 17 percent of voters in this year’s election were from small cities or rural areas, and 62 percent of them said they voted for Trump. But Trump has little agricultural history, and spoke rarely about farm issues on the campaign trail.

“People don’t know what he stands for in agriculture and everyone’s waiting for the secretary to be named so you can get some clues,” said Roger Johnson, head of the National Farmers Union. Johnson said there is a “growing, intense frustration” that a secretary hasn’t been named.

Trump and his team have interviewed several candidates, including Maldonado, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and they have also talked to potential candidates from Texas and Indiana, home state of Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Ted McKinney, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, was at Trump Tower on Thursday.

Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, in a daily briefing call with reporters on Friday, played down any talk of a delay with the agriculture selection, saying that the president-elect had given it the same amount of attention and consideration as his other Cabinet picks.

Spicer said Trump had met with “several” qualified candidates and would make a decision in the near future.

Vilsack is one of the nation’s longest-serving agriculture secretaries and has remained generally popular in farm country as he worked to balance the needs of high-dollar production agriculture with other growing parts of the industry, including organics. During his tenure, he also focused on rebuilding rural communities, making school meals healthier and resolving civil rights claims against the department.

As for his next steps, he said in a statement that “I intend to be involved in promotion of agriculture and rural America, I hope to be connected to a university and work with young people, and I want to spend time with my family in Iowa.”

Michael Scuse, undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services, will be acting secretary until Trump is inaugurated.

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Associated Press writer Jonathan Lemire in New York contributed to this report.

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