An additional $14 billion dollars for agricultural producers in the USA

NEWARK, USA: On September 18th the President and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced up to an additional $14 billion dollars for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of Covid-19.

Coronavirus Food Assistance Programme (known as ‘CFAP 2’) provides financial assistance that gives producers the ability to absorb increased marketing costs associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a change from the previous programme, payments will be based on revenue from 2019 crops. Signup for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program begun on September 21st and run through December 11, 2020.

CFAP 2 payments will be made for three categories of commodities – Price Trigger Commodities, Flat-rate Crops and Sales Commodities. Specialty crops, floriculture and nursery crops will only be eligible for the Sales Commodity portion.

Sales commodities include specialty crops; aquaculture; nursery crops and floriculture; other commodities not included in the price trigger and flat-rate categories, including tobacco; goat milk; mink (including pelts); mohair; wool; and other livestock (excluding breeding stock) not included under the price trigger category that were grown for food, fiber, fur, or feathers. Payment calculations will use a sales-based approach, where producers are paid based on five payment gradations associated with their 2019 sales.

Additional commodities are eligible in CFAP 2 that weren’t eligible in the first iteration of the program. A complete list of eligible commodities, payment rates and calculations can be found on farmers.gov/cfap.

There will continue to be a payment limitation of $250,000 per person or entity for all commodities combined. Applicants who are corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships may qualify for additional payment limits when members actively provide personal labor or personal management for the farming operation. In addition, this special payment limitation provision has been expanded to include trusts and estates for both CFAP 1 and 2.

Producers will also have to certify they meet the Adjusted Gross Income limitation of $900,000 unless at least 75 percent or more of their income is derived from farming, ranching or forestry-related activities. Producers must also be in compliance with Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions.

Additional information and application forms can be found at farmers.gov/cfap. All other eligibility forms, such as those related to adjusted gross income and payment information, can be downloaded from farmers.gov/cfap/apply. For existing FSA customers, including those who participated in CFAP 1, many documents are likely already on file. American producers should check with FSA county office to see if any of the forms need to be updated.