USDA to Provide Additional Direct Assistance to Farmers and Ranchers Impacted by the Coronavirus
President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced up to an additional $14 billion dollars for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19. Signup will begin September 21 and run through December 11, 2020, for this next round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments (CFAP 2).
Producers whose agricultural operation has been impacted by the pandemic since April 2020 are encouraged to apply for CFAP 2. Payments will be made for three categories of commodities: Price Trigger Commodities, Flat-rate Crops and Sales Commodities.
Specialty crops are included in the Sales Commodities category, which also includes aquaculture, nursery crops and floriculture and other commodities not included in the price trigger and flat-rate categories. Payment calculations will use a sales-based approach, where producers are paid based on five payment gradations associated with their 2019 sales. Flat-rate Crops include hemp.
A complete list of eligible commodities, payment rates and calculations are available on farmers.gov/cfap.
More information about CFAP 2 is in the full announcement.
CFAP 2 Producer Webinar
To introduce CFAP 2, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will conduct a producer webinar Sept. 24, 2020 at 3 p.m. ET to discuss the expanded eligibility for certain commodities, new payment categories including a sales-based approach to specialty crops and other specific commodities, and information on how to apply.
|
