BISMARCK – President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced an expansion of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) with up to $14 billion in additional funds for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs due to COVID-19.
“Many producers are still feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. “I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary Perdue for listening to our farmers and ranchers and modifying the program to cover more commodities to help meet the needs of those impacted in our agriculture community.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will use funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and the CARES Act to support row crops, specialty crops, livestock, specialty livestock, dairy, wool and more.
Eligible row crops include alfalfa, barley, buckwheat, canola, corn, crambe, flax, hemp, oats, rye, soybeans, sugar beets, sunflowers, triticale, and wheat. Eligible livestock includes beef cattle, hogs and pigs, lambs and sheep. Breeding stock is not eligible. Eligible specialty livestock includes alpacas, bison, buffalo, beefalo, deer, ducks, elk, emus, geese, goats, pheasants and turkey. More than 230 specialty crops are eligible, including honey.
A complete list of eligible commodities, payment rates and calculations may be found at https://www.farmers.gov/cfap. Producers may apply for CFAP 2 at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office starting Sept. 21 through Dec. 11, 2020.