September 18, 2020
Friday President Trump along with USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) will be distributed. Farmers impacted by economic fallout from COVID-19 will be eligible to receive funds from the up to $14 billion allocated for assistance.
Signup for CFAP 2 will begin September 21, 2020 and continue through Dec. 11, 2020. Funds are being made available from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act and CARES Act to support row crop, livestock, specialty crop, dairy, aquaculture and other commodities.
If you’re interested in applying for CFAP 2, do so at your local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office. USDA said it incorporated improvements in this second round of aid based on feedback from stakeholders and the public to ‘better meet the needs of impacted farmers.’
“Farmers and ranchers saw demand for their markets disappear during the initial shockwave of the pandemic,” says Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation president. “Even though concerns over food supplies have now subsided, the economic hardships are still taking their toll on farm families across the country. We don’t know when this pandemic will end and we are still feeling the effects of trade imbalances and severe weather. This lifeline will keep farmers and ranchers afloat as they continue to keep America’s pantries stocked.”
The CFAP 2 program will include more commodities than the original payments, which focused on livestock, dairy, non-specialty crop and specialty crop producers. The first round of aid was only available to producers who suffered losses before April 15, 2020 and the deadline for most producers to apply for the first round of aid has passed.
“We really struggled last time in trying to figure out different rates for different commodities,” says USDA Undersecretary Bill Northey. “So, this time, we’re looking at specialty crop and specialty livestock, we’re looking at revenue from 2019 and we’re paying a percentage of that revenue—about 10%. A little more for smaller operations and a little less for larger operations.
“We’ve got a bucket that looks at the major commodities like corn and soybeans and wheat as well as cattle and dairy that really does look at a 5% price loss and develops a rate for those commodities,” Northey continues. “So there’s some similarity [to CFAP 1] there.”
Here’s a breakdown of payment rates and additional enrollment information for crops, livestock and dairy in CFAP 2, according to Jim Wiesemeyer, Pro Farmer Washington Analyst:
Beef Cattle, Hogs and Pigs, and Lambs and Sheep – Payment will be equal to the highest owned inventory of eligible livestock, excluding breeding stock, on a dated selected by the eligible producer from April 16, 2020 to Aug. 31, 2020, multiplied by the CCC payment rate.
Beef Cattle – Multiplied by the number of payment limitations for the producer, multiplied by the payment rate of $55 per head.
Hogs and Pigs – Multiplied by the number of payment limitations for the producer, multiplied by the payment rate of $23 per head.
Lambs and Sheep – Multiplied by the payment rate of $27 per head.
Cow Milk – dairy operations must be in the business of producing and commercially marketing milk at the time of application. If the dairy operation dissolved on or after Sept. 1, 2020, they are eligible for a prorated payment for the number of days the operation commercially marketing milk from Sept. 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2020. If the operation dissolved before Sept. 1, 2020, it is ineligible for CFAP 2 payments.
Payments will be equal to the sum of the following:
Producers total actual milk production from April 1, 2020, to Aug. 31, 2020, multiplied by the payment of $1.20 per cwt.
Estimated milk production from Sept. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020, based on daily average production from April 1, 2020 to Aug. 31, 2020, multiplied by 122, multiplied by a payment rate of $1.20 per cwt.
Row Crops – Row crops in the price trigger payment category will be equal to the greater of:
Eligible crop acres multiplied by a $15 per acre rate
Eligible acres multiplied by a nationwide crop marketing percentage, multiplied by a crop-specific payment rate, and then by the producers weighted 2020 APH approved yield. If APH is not available, 85% of the weighted 2019 ARC-CO benchmark yield will be used.
One change Wiesemeyer noted is more classes of wheat are eligible in the new program.
“It had more than a 5% price loss and that's why it now qualifies,” Northey says. “And then we did put all the classes together. We heard from folks that it's hard when you have the classes separate. This time, it makes sense to be able to have them all together and have one rate for wheat.”
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