USDA details CFAP 2 sign-up

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Sign-up for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 has been reopened for producers to apply for the first time or make modifications to existing applications.

The initial CFAP 2 sign-up ended Dec. 11, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture reopened sign-up for at least 60 days beginning April 5.

CFAP 2 details, including some additions for eligibility, were covered when the Illinois Specialty Crops Association hosted Illinois Farm Service Agency specialists in a May 4 webinar.

“CFAP 2 program is providing critical support to the nation’s farmers and ranchers. This is vital financial assistance to agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID,” said Dan Puccetti, Illinois FSA acting state executive director.

“Most of the crops and livestock raised in Illinois are eligible commodities for this program. If you missed getting an application in last fall, you now have the opportunity to apply for assistance. Our staff will help you through the application process, or if you need to make any modifications to your existing application.”

Row crops, livestock, dairy, specialty crops, aquaculture and more all are eligible for the CFAP 2, including the recent addition of pullets and turf grass sod. Producers are encouraged to visit farmers.gov/cfap to review eligible commodities and learn about the payment structure for each.

“If you missed getting an application in last fall, you now have the opportunity to apply for assistance.”

—  Dan Puccetti, Illinois Farm Service Agency acting state executive director

Commodities ineligible for CFAP 2 include hay, except alfalfa, and crops intended for grazing; all equine, breeding stock, companion and comfort animals, pets and animals raised for hunting and game purposes; clover; cover crop; fallow; forage soybeans, commercial and home gardens; and pollinators.

CFAP 2 is a separate program from the first iteration of the program, CFAP 1, and interested producers must complete a new application to be eligible for payment for CFAP 2.

Declines, Disruption

“The COVID-19 pandemic impacted a lot of operations in many ways. This program is working to address two challenges from the coronavirus — the price declines and supply chain disruption,” said Dusty Ponce, FSA Price Support Program specialist.

“The pandemic caused a decline in demand for some commodities and affected the market supply chain. Some producers may have had challenges in getting products to market before the spoiled. They had to dump milk for contracts getting canceled or were affected by schools and restaurants closings.

“CFAP 2 is providing financial assistance that gives producers the ability to absorb some of those increased marketing costs associated with the pandemic.”

The funds do not have to be paid back nor are there stipulations on how the funds have to be spent. Most of the producers applying have occurred significant costs of getting products ready for market and then couldn’t sell or experienced price decline.

“The payments are not expected to make producers whole or compensate them for all of their losses, but the payment is designed to give producers some financial relief. If a producer has outstanding debts with USDA, they should still apply for the program if they are eligible. Their payments will not be withheld to satisfy USDA debts or treasury debts but they can be used for those purposes if you want to,” Ponce added.

Additional Payments

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, authorized additional CFAP payments for beef and row crop producers, including an increase in CFAP 1 payment rates for cattle.

Cattle producers with approved CFAP 1 applications will automatically receive these payments and do not need to submit a new application since payments are based on previously approved CFAP 1 applications.

Producers may be asked for additional information depending on how they filed the original application. Information on the additional payment rates for cattle can be found on farmers.gov/cfap.

This act also authorized additional CFAP assistance of $20 per acre for producers of eligible CFAP 2 flat-rate or price trigger commodities. FSA will automatically issue payments to eligible producers based on the eligible acres included on their CFAP 2 applications. Eligible producers do not need to submit a new CFAP 2 application.

Other CFAP Actions

FSA has also begun payment processing applications filed as part of the CFAP Additional Assistance program in the following categories:

• Applications filed for pullets and turf grass sod.

• A formula correction for row crop producer applications to allow producers with a non-Actual Production History insurance policy to use 100% of the 2019 Agriculture Risk Coverage-County Option benchmark yield in the calculation.

• Sales commodity applications revised to include insurance indemnities, Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program payments, and Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus payments.

Additional payments for swine producers and contract growers under CFAP Additional Assistance remain on hold and are likely to require modifications to the regulation as part of the broader evaluation and future assistance; however, FSA will continue to accept applications from interested producers.

Ponce reiterated that if a farmer or rancher already applied for CFAP 2 in 2020 they cannot apply for CFAP in 2021.

“CFAP 2 is one and done unless you’re in a situation where you were new and needed to add sales from the end of there year or if you had some crop indemnities that you wanted to add,” Ponce said.

“CFAP 2 does not apply for the 2021 season. It is only for 2020. However, when you’re applying for CFAP 2 if you’re not new you will be using 2019 sales.”