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  • USDA to Fund NC State-Led Group on COVID-19 Food Safety

    According to N.C. State Extension, North Carolina State University experts will lead a national project for COVID-19 research and outreach to the food sector with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    “We really want to help the food sector make decisions based on the best available science, fill knowledge gaps and provide specific training,” said Ben Chapman, NC State University professor and Food Safety Extension Specialist. “This project will allow us to expand on work we started in March, coordinating a response to investigate virus persistence and other topics including the efficacy of face coverings for workers such as cashiers.”

    The two-year grant through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture will support FoodCoVNET, a network of researchers at NC State University, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, the University of Florida, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

    Focus of Study

    Scientists will focus on understanding the risks and best practices to address virus transmission between people in food settings like restaurants, produce packing facilities, and food manufacturing settings. FoodCoVNET collaborators will quantify viral transfer to and from hands, foods, and surfaces, as well as testing the effectiveness of disinfecting strategies. The team will test the viral persistence on foods, packaging, and food preparation surfaces under a range of pH levels, temperatures, humidities, and storage conditions.

    “While we understand generally that the biggest risks in SARS-CoV-2 transmission are person-to-person, the food sector has challenges in physical distancing, managing airflow, and disinfection of high-touch surfaces,” said Michelle Danyluk, University of Florida professor of food science. “Evaluating the effectiveness of strategies with specific situations in mind, such as in produce packing facilities or in transport can hopefully lead us to help manage the devastation this pandemic has created within the food industry.”

    Research Results

    Results of the research will be used to develop COVID-19 training and educational materials for food handlers at each step from the farm to the final consumer. The grant team, which includes experts in food safety, virology, food production, microbiology, and science communication, began working together early in the pandemic to fill a critical need for information on how to keep food handlers and customers safe.

    “There was a lack of food sector-specific information in March that led to our team to come together to evaluate messages that were being distributed by others and create our own,” said Don Schaffner, extension specialist in food science and distinguished professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. ”There continues to be a huge need to screen, distill, and translate the firehose of data on viral persistence and transfer into usable recommendations for the food industry.”

    Research-based practices helped the restaurant industry reopen at a time when an estimated 8 million restaurant employees were out of work, said the National Restaurant Association’s Lawrence J. Lynch, who serves as president of the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals and senior vice president for certification and operations.

    “As this virus continues to impact lives, it is critical to partner in finding scientifically valid responses to reduce or eliminate the risk of the virus while allowing businesses the opportunity to rebuild, for employees to return to work and for the public to safely dine,” Lynch said.

    The project will study and share recommendations to prevent transmission of the novel coronavirus at every stage of food production, “from the farm to the consumer and all the steps in between,” said Byron Chaves, assistant professor and food safety extension specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “We will conduct laboratory-based studies to better understand viral behavior under different conditions and what that means for producers, food processors, and retailers.”

    Other Industry Partners

    Other industry partners the team works with include the Food Marketing Institute and the American Frozen Food Institute.

    “Through this grant, we’ll continue to work closely with our industry partners to find and fill the gaps in data and offer practical guidance to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Chapman said. “This pandemic is most certainly a watershed moment for the world of public health, health, science, communication, and epidemiology, and that has spilled over into the world of food safety.”

  • USDA Encourages Ag Producers, Residents to Prepare for Hurricane Zeta

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is reminding communities, farmers, ranchers and small businesses in the path of Hurricane Zeta that USDA has programs that provide assistance in the wake of disasters. USDA staff in the regional, state and county offices stand ready and are eager to help.

    Perdue

    “Our neighbors in the Gulf have endured a devastating Hurricane season this year, and I’ve been awed by their resilience,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. “We ask everyone in the path of the storm to again prepare, and to rest assure that this Administration will stand by them to provide all the assistance we can, for as long as they need.”

    USDA has partnered with FEMA and other disaster-focused organizations to create the Disaster Resource Center, a searchable knowledgebase of disaster-related resources powered by subject matter experts. The Disaster Resource Center website and web tool now provide an easy access point to find USDA disaster information and assistance.

    Food Safety During an Emergency

    Power outages from severe weather could compromise the safety of stored food. USDA encourages those in the path of the storm to take the following precautions:

    Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.

    Place appliance thermometers in the refrigerator and the freezer to ensure temperatures remain food safe during a power outage. Safe temperatures are 40°F or below in the refrigerator, 0°F or below in the freezer.

    Freeze water in small plastic storage bags or containers prior to a storm. These containers are small enough to fit around the food in the refrigerator and freezer to help keep food cold.

    Freeze refrigerated items, such as leftovers, milk and fresh meat and poultry that you may not need immediately — this helps keep them at a safe temperature longer.

    Consider getting 50 pounds of dry or block ice if a lengthy power outage is possible. This amount of ice should keep a fully-stocked 18-cubic-feet freezer cold for two days Group foods together in the freezer – this ‘igloo’ effect helps the food stay cold longer.

    Keep a few days’ worth of ready-to-eat foods that do not require cooking or cooling.

    Protecting Livestock During a Disaster

    USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is urging everyone in the potential path of the hurricane to prepare now – not just for yourselves, but also for your pets and your livestock.

    • Plan for evacuation – know how you will evacuate and where you will go. If it is not feasible to evacuate your livestock, be sure to provide a strong shelter and adequate food and water that will last them until you can return.
    • If you are planning to move livestock out of state, make sure to contact the State Veterinarian’s Office in the receiving state before you move any animals. You may also contact the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services state offices for information and assistance about protecting and moving livestock.
    • Listen to emergency officials and evacuate if asked to do so.

    Helping Producers Weather Financial Impacts of Disasters

    Livestock owners and contract growers who experience above normal livestock deaths due to specific weather events, as well as to disease or animal attacks, may qualify for assistance under USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program. Livestock, honeybee and farm-raised fish producers whose mechanically harvested or purchased livestock feed was physically damaged or destroyed; or who lost grazing acres or beehives due to an extreme weather event may qualify for assistance. Producers of non-insurable crops who suffer crop losses, lower yields or are prevented from planting agricultural commodities may be eligible for assistance under USDA’s Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program if the losses were due to natural disasters.

  • UGA Research Grant Aimed at Protecting Consumers from Norovirus

    A Center for Produce Safety grant will fund University of Georgia (UGA) research aimed at studying human norovirus and its impact on leafy vegetables, in particular, lettuce.

    Malak Esseili, an Assistant Professor at the Center for Food Safety on the UGA Griffin campus, is the lead investigator in the project, which spans from Jan. 1, 2021 through Jan. 1, 2023. Her objective is to study the survival rate of human norovirus in river water, which is commonly used in agricultural irrigation; analyze its die-off rate in relation to E. coli (a standard water quality fecal indicator organism); determine the survival of infectious virus on lettuce under pre-harvest; and on post-harvest lettuce following chlorine washes.

    Human Norovirus Top Food-Borne Pathogen

    Esseili

    “Norovirus in the U.S. is the No. 1 food-borne pathogen; 58% of foodborne illnesses are caused by human norovirus. It’s very prevalent, but there is unfortunately no vaccine or antiviral drugs to treat norovirus infections. Most of the foodborne outbreaks, historically, are associated with leafy greens, particularly lettuce or frozen berries, such as strawberries. If it’s frozen, the virus will likely be preserved,” Esseili said. “It’s really important to understand whether norovirus on leafy greens, such as lettuce, remains infectious or not and to what level.”

    Understanding Norovirus

    She said that the human norovirus is excreted with feces. If infected, sick people can shed the virus in their feces, and all the feces travels down the sewer to a treatment plant. But the treatment plant is not 100% effective in removing this virus. This leads to contaminated river water, which can be used in watering crops like lettuce.

    “The water that comes out after the treatment of human waste, that water is called effluent, and it goes into a river. Many studies around the world have detected genetic material of the virus in river water. However, because we did not have a cell culture method for norovirus, we could not determine whether finding virus-specific genetic materials indicate the presence of infectious virus or not. We don’t know how long the virus remains infectious in river water and this is what my grant will also be looking at,” Esseili said.

    Esseili’s Experiment

    Esseili said that her experimental work will consist of growing lettuce in greenhouses and adding drops of the virus on the lettuce leaves in small quantities. Then, she will monitor the infectivity of the virus using a recently discovered cell culture method for human norovirus. Some of the basic questions she wants to answer are, does the pathogen survive and for how long? And will regular water clean it off or does it require a sanitation step such as chlorine washings.

    This research will help prevent illnesses associated with norovirus. It’s such a dangerous pathogen that even a low dose can be problematic.

    “If you have even low quantities of the virus on the leafy greens or berries and the person eats it, there is a chance the person will get infected,” Esseili said.

  • Zeta Set to Move Through Region This Week

    National Weather Service Graphic

    Zeta, a tropical system and an expected hurricane once it reaches the U.S. by Wednesday, is churning in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to move across the Southeast later this week. According to the UGA Extension Viticulture Blog, Pam Knox, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agricultural Climatologist, said there will be some rain and gusty winds from that system as it moves through the area after making landfall in Louisiana.

    Knox

    At the same time, a low-pressure center is expected to move through the Southeast region. This would bring more rain to the Ohio and Tennessee River valleys. It could include up to several inches of rain in the more mountainous regions of the region.

    “Cooler temperatures are expected this week due to the cold fronts that are now starting to move through the region. However, the coldest air, which is bringing snow and single-digit temperatures to the northern Plains, is not expected to get to the Southeast. I don’t see any signs of frost in the next couple of weeks,” Knox said.

    This would be welcomed news for vegetable growers, like Sam Watson in Moultrie, Georgia, who are still harvesting their fall crops.

  • Like it or not, Joro spiders are here to stay

    UGA CAES photo/Detial photo of Joro spider.

    By Beth Gavrilles for UGA CAES News

    Chances are, if you live in northeast Georgia you’ve come across an East Asian Joro spider this fall.  

    At almost 3 inches across when their legs are fully extended, they’re hard to miss. While they’re roughly the same size as banana spiders and yellow garden spiders, the distinctive yellow and blue-black stripes on their backs and bright red markings on their undersides are unique. Their enormous three-dimensional webs are a striking golden color and tend to be located higher off the ground than those of other spiders. 

    “We’ve been getting lots of calls and emails from people reporting sightings,” said Byron Freeman, director of the Georgia Museum of Natural History. “They seem to be really common in riparian areas and in urban areas around people’s houses, but they’re also in the deep woods.” 

    Joro spiders have spread widely since they were first spotted in Hoschton, Georgia, in 2013. They probably arrived by hitching a ride in a shipping container from China or Japan, according to Freeman. He and Richard Hoebeke, associate curator of the museum’s arthropod collection and a research professional in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department of Entomology, confirmed the identity of those early arrivals based on genetic analysis in 2015. 

    Now, five years later, Joro spiders appear to have successfully established themselves in the area, with recent confirmed reports from as far afield as Blairsville, Georgia, and Greenville, South Carolina. But there is still much that remains unknown about them. 

    One important question is how they might affect the local ecosystem. Will they out compete other orb weaving spiders? Will they reduce insect populations through predation?  

    “We don’t know what the impact is going to be,” said Freeman, a faculty member in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology. “Right now, we’re trying to learn as much as we can about them.” 

    So far, early observations indicate that Joros are coexisting with the area’s other orb weaving spiders, with webs close to, and in some cases even attached to, one another.  

    And Joro spiders also appear to be able to capture and feed on at least one insect that other local spiders are not: adult brown marmorated stink bugs, an invasive pest that can infest houses and damage crops. In turn, Joro spiders are vulnerable to predators like mud dauber wasps and birds.   

    Freeman noted that dewdrop spiders, a kleptoparasite—as the name implies, they steal food from others—have been spotted in Joro webs. 

    “They may be switching from what we thought was their principal host, the banana spider, to this new kind of orb weaver,” he said. He pointed out that banana spiders, a relative of the Joro, are native to the Caribbean and Central America. They were first recorded in the U.S. in 1862 and have since naturalized.  

    “My guess is that this will be no different than the banana spider, and I don’t know that we can assess what the effect of the banana spider has been at this point,” he said. 

    Another question Freeman hopes to answer is how the males find their mates.  

    Joro spiders travel by ballooning, letting the wind carry them on a strand of gossamer.  

    “The male has to drift in and find the female,” Freeman said. “Sometimes there’ll be four or five males on a web, sometimes there’ll be one, so the males are moving between webs. When you have a large population it seems feasible that a male could just drift from one spot to the next, but when you don’t have a lot of webs around, how does the male show up?”    

    Freeman is also conducting further genetic analysis to determine what causes some Joro spiders to have a different color pattern. While most have distinctive black and yellow striped legs, some have legs that are solid black. These black morphs have other physical differences that are only apparent when viewed under a microscope, and Freeman has determined that they are genetically distinct members of the species.  

    Despite their size, Freeman said that Joro spiders don’t pose a threat to people. 

    “All spiders have venom that they use to subdue prey,” he said. “If you put your hand in front of one and try to make it bite you, it probably will. But they run if you disturb their web. They’re trying to get out of the way.”  

    Freeman said that Joros can be shooed away with a broom if they’re in a location that puts them too close for comfort. 

    But as for removing them permanently, he compared such efforts to shoveling sand at the beach. 

    “Should you try to get rid of them?” said Freeman. “You can, but at this point, they’re here to stay.” 

    If you spot a Joro spider — especially if you can provide a photo tagged with date and location — please contact Hoebeke at rhoebeke@uga.edu.  

  • Coming Soon: New University of Florida Strawberry Varieties

    A new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences strawberry release has excellent shape and flavor.

    By Vance M. Whitaker

    Two new strawberry selections have been approved for release by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and are in the commercialization process. Trade names have not yet been finalized but should be chosen in the next six months. For both, larger-scale testing will be conducted this fall, and commercial quantities will be available to Florida growers for the 2021–22 season.

    The first release is an early short-day variety with excellent fruit shape and quality. It has slightly lower November and December yields than Florida Brilliance but has had high January yields. It has excellent flavor, with taste panels ranking it equal to or even better than Sweet Sensation® Florida127, depending on the harvest date. It also has high Brix through the season, similar to Sweet Sensation® Florida127. The push for better flavor is an important pursuit for the UF/IFAS strawberry breeding program, so the team is very excited about the sensory qualities of this new release.

    A new white-fruited release from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has a unique appearance and flavor. Photo by Cristina Carrizosa, UF/IFAS Communications

    The second release is a white-fruited strawberry. White-fruited varieties have been popular in Japan for some time, but this is expected to be the first such variety on the market in the United States. It has white internal and external color, with a pink blush on the sun-side and red achenes. The appearance of the pink blush and the achenes turning from green to red are the visual cues signaling that the fruit is ripe and ready to eat. The fruit are a little bit smaller than the other current varieties and are more similar in size to the fruit of Festival. The yield of this variety is about 75 percent of the current varieties grown in Florida, which are primarily Florida Brilliance and Sweet Sensation® Florida127.

    It is important to mention that new strawberry variety releases from UF/IFAS are exclusive to Florida growers for the first three years, but trialing can be conducted during this period with permission from the Florida Strawberry Growers Association.

    Regarding current varieties, Sweet Sensation® Florida127 (released in 2013) is fully available throughout the United States, while Florida Brilliance (released in 2017) is still exclusive to Florida for one more season. However, with permission, Florida Brilliance can be trialed outside of Florida in 2020 and will be fully available in 2021.

  • Various Varieties to Choose from When Planting Pecan Trees

    georgia pecan
    File photo shows pecans.

    The time to plant pecan trees is nearing for Georgia producers. Shane Curry, University of Georgia Appling County Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources agent, offers a plethora of options for growers to choose from.

    According to Appling County Crop E News, there are multiple varieties that are very popular and viable options for any farmer in Georgia.

    Avalon is one of the newer varieties that was bred by University of Georgia scientist Patrick Conner and became available around 2017. It has excellent percent kernel, about 47 nuts per pound and is about the size of the Desirable variety. Maybe most importantly, it is highly resistant to scab disease.

    Curry

    Lakota is another popular option that requires very little input. However, Pawnee is one of its best pollinators and is one of the most scab susceptible cultivars available on the market. Pawnee can require as many as 15 sprays for scab during the growing season. Lakota and Pawnee are also the earliest varieties we plant in Georgia, which can bring the highest prices on the market at that time of year, which is in late September and into October.

    Curry said Cape Fear is one of his favorites, though, it is not a low input variety. It will require spraying but yields and quality make it a variety worth planting. It is susceptible to bacterial leaf scorch, and quality can be affected when the tree overloads as it matures. But fruit thinning can help with that problem.

    Excel is another variety that requires low inputs and has good scab resistance. Pecan planting is usually done during December and January when the trees are dormant.

  • More Than $7 Billion Paid in Second Round of CFAP

    (Washington, D.C., Oct. 26, 2020) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today that in the first month of the application period, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) approved more than $7 billion in payments to producers in the second round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

    Perdue

    CFAP 2 provides agricultural producers with financial assistance to help absorb some of the increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “America’s agriculture communities are resilient, but still face many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These payments directed by President Trump will continue to help this critical industry recoup some of their losses from ongoing market disruptions and associated costs,” said Secretary Perdue. “This program builds upon the over $10 billion disbursed under the first round of CFAP. Agricultural producers who have been impacted by the pandemic since April 2020 are encouraged to apply for assistance.”

    Since CFAP 2 enrollment began on Sept. 21, FSA has approved more than 443,000 applications. The top five states for payments are Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois and Kansas. USDA has released a data dashboard on application progress and program payments and will release further updates each Monday at 2:00 p.m. ET. The report can be viewed at farmers.gov/cfap.

    Through CFAP 2, USDA is making available up to $14 billion for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19. CFAP 2 is a separate program from the first iteration of CFAP (CFAP 1). Farmers and ranchers who participated in CFAP 1 will not be automatically enrolled and must complete a new application for CFAP 2. FSA will accept CFAP 2 applications through Dec. 11, 2020.

    Eligible Commodities

    CFAP 2 supports eligible producers of row crops, livestock, specialty crops, dairy, aquaculture, and many other commodities, including many that were ineligible for CFAP 1. FSA’s CFAP 2 Eligible Commodities Finder makes finding eligible commodities and payment rates simple. Access this tool and other resources at farmers.gov/cfap.

    Getting Help from FSA


    New customers seeking one-on-one support with the CFAP 2 application process can call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer general assistance. This is a recommended first step before a producer engages the team at the FSA county office at their local USDA Service Center.

    FSA offers multiple options for producers to apply for CFAP 2. Producers with an eAuthentication account can apply online through the CFAP 2 Application Portal. Also available is a payment calculator and application generator that is an Excel workbook that allows producers to input information specific to their operation to determine estimated payments and populate the application form, which can be printed, signed, and submitted to the local FSA office. Producers can also download the CFAP 2 application and other eligibility forms from farmers.gov/cfap.

    Producers of acreage-based commodities will use acreage and yield information provided by FSA through the annual acreage reporting process. Producers have the option to complete their application by working directly with their local FSA staff or online through the CFAP 2 Application Portal.
    CFAP 2 is not a loan program, and there is no cost to apply.

    More Information

    To find the latest information on CFAP 2, visit farmers.gov/CFAP or call 877-508-8364.

    All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including some that are open to visitors to conduct business in person by appointment only. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. Service Centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors are also required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Our program delivery staff will be in the office, and they will be working with our producers in the office, by phone, and using online tools. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.

  • Sneak Peek: November 2020 VSCNews Magazine

    By Ashley Robinson

    The November issue of VSCNews magazine touches on a variety of topics, including an improved method to detect phytophthora in irrigation water, smart irrigation tools for blueberry growers and new findings on growing hemp in Florida.

    One of the most serious diseases in Georgia vegetable production is phytophthora blight, a water mold that attacks the roots, foliage and fruit, causing root rot, crown rot, leaf lesions, fruit rot and plant wilt.

    Due to a lack of an efficient diagnosis method, the production of vegetables is severely impacted by contaminated irrigation water. Emran Ali, the director of the Plant Molecular Diagnostic Lab; Owen Hudson, a master’s student; Justin Hand, Tift County Extension agent; and Sumyya Waliullah, a research professional at UGA in Tifton share a newly developed hand pump-based filter paper method to improve detection of the disease.

    Vasileios Liakos, an assistant research scientist at UGA-Tifton discusses two new smart irrigation tools for blueberries developed by UGA — the UGA Smart Sensor Array (SSA) and the Blueberry App. The UGA SSA is a system that records soil moisture within fields and the Blueberry App allows growers to use their smart-phones to schedule irrigation. Researchers at UGA are also working on a project, evaluating soil moisture sensors for blueberries.

    Lastly, Tory Moore, public relations specialist for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) shares important considerations for Florida growers contemplating or currently growing hemp. Flowering requirements, pest management strategies, irrigation, fertilization and additional general advice are all offered in this article.

    If you would like to receive future issues of VSCNews magazine, click here.

  • Trump Administration Invests $2.3 Million in High-Speed Broadband in Rural North Carolin

    YADKINVILLE, N.C., Oct. 26, 2020 – The Trump Administration announced today that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $2.3 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in North Carolina.

    This investment is part of the $550 million Congress allocated to the second round of the ReConnect Program.

    “Access to high-speed internet is a cornerstone of prosperity, and unfortunately many of America’s rural communities lack access to this critical infrastructure,” USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand said. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Perdue, USDA is committed to leveraging all available resources and being a strong partner to rural communities in deploying high-speed broadband e-Connectivity to the people, businesses and community facilities that don’t have access yet. Connecting America’s rural communities to this essential infrastructure is one of USDA’s top priorities, because we know that when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”

    Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership Corporation will use a $2.3 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network. This network will connect 5,686 people, 67 farms and 18 businesses to high-speed broadband internet in Davie, Yadkin and Iredell counties in North Carolina.

    Background

    In March 2018, Congress provided $600 million to USDA to expand broadband infrastructure and services in rural America. On Dec. 13, 2018, Secretary Perdue announced the rules of the program, called “ReConnect,” including how the loans and grants will be awarded to help build broadband infrastructure in rural America.

    On April 20, 2020, USDA announced the Department has received 172 applications for $1.57 billion in Round Two of the ReConnect Program. The second round will enable USDA to implement innovative new solutions to rural connectivity by leveraging financial options with our partners and continuing the success of the first round of funding. The application window for Round Two closed on April 15, 2020.

    In Round One of the ReConnect Program, USDA invested $698 million to bring high-speed broadband e-Connectivity to approximately 167,000 households, 17,000 rural small businesses and farms, and more than 500 health care centers, educational facilities and critical community facilities located in 33 states. To learn more about individual investments, read USDA’s Broadband ReConnect Program report (PDF, 4 MB).

    USDA received 11 Round Two ReConnect Program applications that are eligible for the $100 million Congress allocated to the program through the CARES Act.

    To learn more about ReConnect Program eligibility, technical assistance and recent announcements, visit www.usda.gov/reconnect.
    USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.