Changes to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program offers relief to more producers.
The Department of Agriculture recently expanded eligibility to more commodities included in CFAP and is engaging with producers to provide them more information on applying. American Farm Bureau Federation economist Shelby Myers says that USDA added more specialty crops to the program.
According to Myers, “USDA expanded eligibility to 41 specialty crops in addition to the 42 that were added in July, and then also added all ages of sheep, frozen and liquid eggs, aquaculture, nursery crops. This expansion will help more producers access the direct assistance needed to ease the financial and economic burdens resulting from COVID-19.”
Myers notes that the initial creation of the program covered many commodities, but others were not included because of the program requirements: “Many were considered ineligible due to a lack of publicly available price data showing a five percent or greater price decline as the program required... USDA continues to expand eligibility to more commodities as the information collected shows individual commodity needs.”
USDA has extended the deadline to apply and is inviting farmers to learn more about CFAP through a Webinar Wednesday.
The U.S. Hemp Growers Association is disappointed the program expansion failed to included them. They state,” We believe our farmers did present evidence of losses to our growers that were five percent or more in the first quarter of 2020.”
For more information or to sign up for the webinar, click HERE.