There has been a lot of questions, speculation, and even fear about how the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Biden Administration was going to handle the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) issued under the Trump Administration. On Wednesday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers program.
Speaking to the members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, Secretary Vilsack Outlined the new plan. Vilsack says that the new program is designed to help producers better than they have been helped already. They want to make sure that they help anybody who was eligible for help but did not get it, receives assistance. It also provides for producers who maybe did not receive all that they were eligible to receive.
The program is divided into four parts. You can find a release from the USDA, detailing those parts, here. Some of these components will come from previous covid relief packages. The parts are as follows:
- Carrying out the payments established under CFAP 1, CFAP 2, and CFAP AA.
- This will affect cattle producers under CFAP 1. There is no need for new applications.
- USDA will also pay out the monies for eligible crops under CFAP 2. This comes out to $20 per acre for multiple crops. There is no need for new applications.
- It will also refine the formulas used under previous CFAP programs to make sure producers such as pork and poultry get the proper assistance they were entitled to. CFAP 2 was a prime example of where this was needed.
- Adding funding to existing programs and expediting their release. This will have an additional $500 million for these programs for small to mid-sized farms. Vilsack lays out these investments.
- The program will be investing $6 billion to expand the help and assistance to more producers and industries that either didn?t receive the amount of money they were eligible for or were told that they weren?t going to get any help.
- Dairy Farms through Dairy Donation Programs
- Producers who euthanized livestock and poultry
- Specialty crop farmers
- Beginning farmers
- Biofuels Producers
- Local, organic, and urban farms
- Timber harvesting and hauling
- Improving the resilience in the food supply chain
- Developing a better donation infrastructure and food distribution network.
- Reducing Food waste.
- The final part is to reopen CFAP 2 for underserved and disadvantaged farmers to have the chance to get the monies that they are eligible to receive.
Vilsack says that this is a lot of information to digest. Farmers will be able to go to farmers.gov or contact their local USDA office and find out more information.
Many Ag and biofuels groups have thanked the USDA for getting a plan rolled out.
