Ag Docket Blog


Update: On May 13, 2020, SBA and Treasury issued additional guidance providing a safe harbor and extending the deadline for returning a loan to May 18.

Note: On May 4, SBA began accepting applications for EIDL advances from agricultural businesses only.

It’s official. The President signed H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, into law today. This law provides another opportunity for some small businesses, including agricultural producers, to get in line for a potential loan to help them through the next few months.


Late on April 30, 2020, IRS issued Notice 2020-32, stating that no deduction is allowed for an expense that is otherwise deductible if the payment of the expense results in forgiveness of a covered loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The question before the U.S. Supreme Court was whether the Clean Water Act requires a permit when pollutants originate from a point source but are conveyed to navigable waters by a nonpoint source, in this case, groundwater. Many had hoped the Court’s answer to this question would clarify longtime ambiguity under the CWA. But given the complexity of the issue, that was not to be. 

Note: This case was reversed on appeal on 11/25/2020.

A bankruptcy court recently ruled in a Chapter 12 case that federal and state taxing authorities do not have the right to offset a refund with tax debt stripped of its priority by 11 U.S.C. § 1232. This was a court’s first opportunity to rule on this question since the passage of the Family Farmer Bankruptcy Clarification Act of 2017. The case was In re DeVries, No.19-00181 (Bankr. N.D. Iowa April 28, 2020).

The Iowa Supreme Court recently issued a decision in a key case involving competing claims by a secured lender and a grain elevator over the costs of storing and drying the grain. The April 17, 2020, case--MidWestOne Bank v. Heartland Co-op, No. 19-1302 (Iowa 2020)--has caused grain warehouses and lenders to take a closer look at their business practices.

April 18, 2020 | Kristine A. Tidgren

Late Friday, April 17, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the creation of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).

April 15, 2020 | Kristine A. Tidgren

Update: On June 29, IRS stated via FAQ that taxpayers will have until July 15, 2020, to file a Form 1139 or Form 1045 that otherwise would be due June 30. This is because of the general extension relief provided by Notice 2020-26.

Update:On April 24, Congress replenished PPP funds and made farmers eligible for EIDLs.

On April 9, 2020, IRS issued Notice 2020-23, which significantly expands the deadline relief for filings and payments earlier provided through Notices 2020-18 and 2020-20.

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