USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)
Getting Ready to Apply: New Details
APPLICATIONS can be accepted through August 28th.
USDA released additional details regarding the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). CFAP will provide $16 billion in direct support to farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Overview
CFAP provides vital financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a five-percent-or-greater price decline due to COVID-19 and face additional significant marketing costs as a result of lower demand, surplus production, and disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities.
Farmers and ranchers will receive direct support, drawn from two possible funding sources.
The first source of funding is $9.5 billion in appropriated funding provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability (CARES) Act to compensate farmers for losses due to price declines that occurred between mid-January 2020, and mid-April 2020 and provides support for specialty crops for product that had been shipped from the farm between the same period but subsequently spoiled due to loss of marketing channels.
The second funding source uses the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to compensate producers for $6.5 billion in losses due to ongoing market disruptions.
Participation in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program or Economic Injury Disaster Loan program does not affect eligibility for the CFAP or any other USDA program or loan.
Information for this program can be found on CFAP and see the Frequently Asked Questions that can help clarify details.
Eligibility, Payment Limits, and Payment Structure
There is a payment limitation of $250,000 per person or entity for all commodities combined. Applicants who are corporations, limited liability companies, or limited partnerships may qualify for additional payment limits where members actively provide personal labor or personal management for the farming operation. Producers will also have to certify they meet the Adjusted Gross Income limitation of $900,000 unless at least 75 percent or more of their income is derived from farming, ranching, or forestry-related activities. Producers must also comply with Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation provisions.
To ensure the availability of funding throughout the application period, producers will receive 80 percent of their maximum total payment upon approval of the application. The remaining portion of the payment, not to exceed the payment limit, will be paid at a later date as funds remain available.
Eligible Crops and links to details
Non-specialty crops and wool
Non-specialty crops eligible for CFAP payments include malting barley, canola, corn, upland cotton, millet, oats, soybeans, sorghum, sunflowers, durum wheat, and hard red spring wheat. Producers will be paid based on inventory subject to price risk held as of January 15, 2020. A single payment will be made based on 50 percent of a producer’s 2019 total production or the 2019 inventory as of January 15, 2020, whichever is smaller, multiplied by the commodity’s applicable payment rates.
Wool is also eligible. Visit CFAP and click on “Wool” for details.
Livestock
Livestock eligible for CFAP include cattle, lambs, yearlings, and hogs. The total payment will be calculated using the sum of the producer’s number of livestock sold between January 15 and April 15, 2020, multiplied by the payment rates per head, and the highest inventory number of livestock between April 16 and May 14, 2020, multiplied by the payment rate per head.
Dairy
Visit CFAP and click on “Dairy” for details. For dairy, the total payment will be calculated based on a producer’s certification of milk production for the first quarter of the calendar year 2020 multiplied by a national price decline during the same quarter. The second part of the payment is based on a national adjustment to each producer’s production in the first quarter.
Specialty Crops
For eligible specialty crops, the total payment will be based on the volume of production sold between January 15 and April 15, 2020; the volume of production shipped, but unpaid; and the number of acres for which harvested production did not leave the farm or mature product destroyed or not harvested during that same period, and which have not and will not be sold. Specialty crops include but are not limited to, almonds, beans, broccoli, sweet corn, lemons, iceberg lettuce, spinach, squash, strawberries, and tomatoes. A full list of eligible crops can be found on CFAP. Additional crops may be deemed eligible at a later date.
Forms and paperwork
Applications and a calculator will be posted online in the coming days, and FSA staff will also help producers complete the application.
If you have not worked with the FSA on payment programs before, it is highly recommended that you start collecting the necessary documents now.
Your local FSA staff will work with you to apply for the program and will ask for Contact information, Tax Identification Number, Farming operating structure, Adjusted Gross Income to ensure eligibility and Direct deposit to enable payment processing.
The following forms will be needed for CFAP:
•CCC-901 (Also Available in Spanish) – Identifies members of a farm or ranch that is a legal entity. Member Information will be completed by legal entities and joint operations to collect the following: member names, addresses, Tax Identification Numbers, citizenship status
• CCC-941 (Also Available in Spanish) – Reports your average adjusted gross income for programs where income restrictions apply.
•CCC-942 – If applicable, this certification reports income from farming, ranching, and forestry, for those exceeding the adjusted gross income limitation.
•AD-1026 (Also Available in Spanish) – Ensures compliance with highly erodible land conservation and wetland conservation.
• AD-2047 – Provides basic customer contact information.
•SF-3881 – Collects your banking information to allow USDA to make payments to you via direct deposit
FSA has streamlined the signup process to not require an acreage report at the time of application and a USDA farm number may not be immediately needed.
Applications will be accepted through August 28, 2020.