Farmers have more time to apply for coronavirus aid.
USDA extends its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program deadline to September 11th. The agency also added more commodities to the eligibility list.
Farm Service Agency Administrator, Richard Fordyce says that the department worked with farmers to identify new crops and livestock in need of coverage: “We approached it from a NOFA process, notice of funds availability, and that was an opportunity for the public to submit data to verify that additional commodities were impacted.”
According to USDA, all sheep, some aquaculture products, and more specialty crops, like bananas and pistachios, are now eligible for CFAP funds.
Farm groups welcome the CFAP extension. According to USDA data, only 25 percent of farmers have participated in the program.
American Farm Bureau economist, John Newton says the extension giver the sector more time to access aid. “We know there are more producers out there, especially some of our smaller, specialty crop producers. We need to make sure that they know these programs are available,” he adds. “When you dive into the specialty crops, two weeks ago only about one percent of the payments for carrots had gone out the door; apple payments were standing around ten percent. So, there’s significantly more funding available to help specialty crop producers impacted by coronavirus.”
For a complete list of commodities click HERE.
Farm Bureau is thankful for CFAP extension.