KENTUCKY — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) made several announcements today, including new features on the USDA Farmers.gov website and a third round of Farmers to Families Food Box Program purchases. 

The new changes to the website are designed to help facilitate the employment of H-2A workers with features such as:

• A real-time dashboard that allows farmers to track the status of their eligible employer application and visa applications for temporary nonimmigrant workers;
• Streamlined login information so farmers can save multiple applications tracking numbers for quick look-up if they have an exisiting login.gov;
• Easy access to the Department of Labor's Foreign Labor Application Gateway;
• A way to track time-sensitive actions taken in the course of Office of Foreign Labor Certification's adjudication of temporary labor certification applications; and
• Access to all application forms online for farmers.

“My mission from the beginning of my time as Secretary was to make USDA the most effective, most efficient, most customer-focused department in the entire federal government – these changes to Farmers.gov are doing just that. USDA’s goal is to help farmers navigate the complex H-2A program that is administered by Department of Labor, Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department so hiring a farm worker is an easier process,” said USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. “President Trump knows how essential these workers are to our farmers and America’s food supply chain. We will continue working to streamline these and other processes to better serve our customers across the country.”

The USDA also announced today there will be a third round of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program purchases with distributions beginning by Sept. 1 and finishing by Oct. 31, 2020. The program, meant to help farmers impacted by the pandemic, supplies food to then transport them to food banks, community organizations, and other non-profits. The purchases will spend the balance of $3 billion authorized for the program, and so far, over 46 million Farmers to Families Food Boxes have been invoiced and delivered. 

“This third round of Farmers to Families Food Box Program purchases is a testament to the great work done by vendors in support of American agriculture and the American people. It is also a testament that the program is accomplishing what we intended – supporting U.S. farmers and distributors and getting food to those who need it most. It’s a real trifecta, which is why we call it a win-win-win,” said Perdue. “The efforts of everyone involved form the backbone of the Farmers to Families Food Box Program and its goal to help fill the hunger gap in all of our communities.”

For the third round, the USDA plans to purchase combination boxes so that recipient organizations have access to fresh produce, dairy, fluid milk and meat. 

Eligibility is open to those who can meet the government's requirements and specifications. Proposals should show how coverage will be provided to areas identified as opportunity zones, detail subcontracting agreements, and address the "last mile" delivery of product into the hands of the food insecure population.