Month: April 2020

Ohio’s Coronavirus-19 Stay at Home Order and Agricultural Businesses

By:Peggy Kirk Hall, Ohio State University, Associate Professor, Agricultural & Resource Law

It’s been a quiet few weeks here at the Farm Office as we adjust to life with Coronavirus-19, but it’s time to get back to the Ohio Ag Law Blog.  We hope our readers are safe and healthy.

We’ve received several questions about Ohio’s Stay at Home Order and how it affects agricultural businesses.  As you well know, the Order states that residents are to stay at home and may leave “only for Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Functions, or to participate in Essential Businesses and Operations.”  All non-essential businesses and activities are to cease.  It became effective early Tuesday morning and remains in place until the end of the day on April 6.  Here are the relevant parts of the Order that answer the questions we’ve received:
Continue reading Ohio’s Coronavirus-19 Stay at Home Order and Agricultural Businesses →

Paycheck Protection Program Offers Forgivable Loans for Eligible Small Businesses

By: Kristine A. Tidgren, Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law

On Friday, March 27, 2020, the President signed into law H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The CARES Act contains a number of relief provisions designed to sustain Americans during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. This post provides a general overview of a new small business loan program, the Paycheck Protection Program. Other posts detail individual tax provisions and business tax provisions.

The Paycheck Protection Program, implemented by section 1102 of the CARES Act, expands the Small Business Administration 7(a) loan program to provide up to $349 billion in federally-guaranteed loans to small employers and eligible self-employed individuals impacted by COVID-19. These loans are designed to be partially forgivable under section 1106. While a number of details must be filled in with applicable regulations, this post provides an overview of the law as set forth in the statute. Continue reading Paycheck Protection Program Offers Forgivable Loans for Eligible Small Businesses →

Pesticide and Fertilizer Private Applicator Update

With the signing of House Bill 197, Ohio’s COVID-19 emergency response legislation, the March 31, 2020 deadline for private pesticide applicators (farmers) and the May 31, 2020 deadline for agricultural fertilizer certificate holders to renew their license and get training has been extended.

The deadline is now 90 days after the state of emergency Executive Order ends or December 1, 2020, whichever comes first.

All in-person OSUE events are cancelled or postponed through at least May 15. Applicators that still are in need of training are encouraged to visit pested.osu.edu for more information when classes resume.

If you have not received your updated applicator card please be aware that ODA is working diligently with a reduced on-site staff to get cards out. Your pink (or yellow) copy of the re-certification sheet (the triplicate from the re-certification class or conference that you attended) is your temporary certification until you get your card.