CORONAVIRUS FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM- CFAP2

On September 17th the USDA announced there would be a $14 billion expansion made to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The program, called CFAP 2, is providing financial assistance to producers in effort to offset the effects of COVID-19 in the ag industry. Like the first set of payments made, this program is administered through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and available to all farmers with eligible commodities.
Many of the same rules from the first set of payments are still applied to the second. The main rule being the payment limitation of $250,000 per legal entity. This is still a self- certification program, so no documentation is needed at the time of applying. However, applications are subject to review, so producers are encouraged to keep documentation on hand. Eligible commodities were expanded from the first set of payments to help encompass more specialty crop producers. Cattle, hogs, corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and alfalfa are all commodities that are eligible for a payment. Unlike the first payment where you only received 80% upfront, you will receive 100% of your payment at the time of application being processed. Sign ups for CFAP 2 began on September 21 and close on December 21. We encourage all producers to sign up at your local FSA office as soon as possible to prevent possible delays.
How will payments be calculated?
Row Crops
Row crops are broken down into two categories: Price trigger commodities and flat rate crops. Crops that fall into the price trigger category suffered a 5% or greater national price decline and flat-rate are those that did not or don’t have data available to calculate a price change.
Price trigger commodities consist of corn, soybeans, sorghum, and all classes of wheat. These payments will be calculated based off your 2020 planted acres, 2020 approved yield, a crop marketing percentage, and a crop-specific payment rate. This calculation is very specific to each producer because it is based off their planted acres and approved yield. Producers shouldn’t need to provide this information to FSA as they already have it. We do recommend calling your local FSA before going to sign up to confirm they already have your information. If they do not have the needed information you can contact our office to obtain it.
Flat-rate crops consist of rice and alfalfa. Those crops are being paid $15 per acre for acres reported in 2020.
Important things to note about the row crop payment are prevent plant acres are not eligible, and forage sorghum, hay (except alfalfa), and other crops intended for grazing will not receive payment.
Livestock
Livestock that will be receiving a CFAP 2 payment will be beef cattle, hogs, and sheep. For all of these you will report your highest inventory count between the dates of April 16 and August 31. Cattle producers will be paid $55 a head for all NON- breeding stock. These included breed heifers, baby calves, cattle on feed, and slaughter cattle.
The CFAP 2 payment sign ups are underway, so do not wait until the last minute to submit your application. Many FSA offices are now open by appointment or will meet with you outside. We encourage you to contact your local FSA office to find out the best way for you to complete your application.