USDA announces CFAP 2 deadline and contract producer assistance

by Megan Roberts, Extension educator

The United States Department of Agriculture announced the sign-up deadline for Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2). The deadline for new or modified CFAP 2 sign-up is now October 12. This latest CFAP 2 announcement primarily affects sales-based commodities (e.g. specialty crops and livestock production) or livestock and poultry contract producers. 

For many agricultural producers, there is no additional action required at this time for CFAP 2, as you have already signed up in the previous iteration of CFAP 2 in fall 2020 and/or you were already automatically sent additional assistance payments in late March or early April for certain eligible producers of cattle and row crops.* 

In contrast, if you are an eligible farmer that has not yet received a CFAP 2 payment, a sales based commodity producer, and/or a contract producer, you may want to inquire very soon with Farm Service Agency about a new or modified CFAP 2 application.***

For sales-based commodities, the CFAP 2 changes affect the calculation options for determining the amount of CFAP 2 payment. According to the USDA, “an amendment to the CFAP 2 payment calculation for sales-based commodities [allows] producers to substitute 2018 sales for 2019 sales. Previously only 2019 was used to approximate the amount specialty [crop and livestock] producers would have expected to market in 2020. Giving producers the option to substitute 2018 sales for 2019 sales provides additional flexibility to producers who had reduced sales in 2019.” Sales-based commodities include, for example, more than 230 types of fruit and vegetable specialty crops, specialty livestock, floriculture and nursery crops, and aquaculture. The August 24 announcement added additional specialty commodities, namely grass seed.

For contract livestock producers, the CFAP 2 changes finally enable them to receive payment authorized in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. These payments had previously been held up in review. Up to $1 billion in payments are allocated for contract producers of eligible livestock and poultry** under the following equation:

Expected CFAP 2 Payment for Contract Producers = ((Eligible Revenue Received from January 1, 2019 through December 27, 2019 OR January 1, 2018 through December 27, 2018) – (Eligible revenue received from January 1, 2020 through December 27, 2020) x 0.80).

Full details on the entire August 24 announcement are available at farmers.gov/cfap. Contact your local USDA Service Center for questions and application procedures. 

So-called "top up payments" to hog producers (in this payment it is owners of hogs that are eligible not contract producers) and payments to bio-fuel producers are still in question and were not addressed nor resolved in the August 24 CFAP 2 announcement.

*Sometimes referred to under the title CFAP AA - Additional Assistance. 

** According to USDA eligible contract production may include "broilers, pullets, layers, chicken eggs, turkeys, and hogs and pigs... Ducks, geese, pheasants, and quail produced under contract are also eligible commodities, as well as breeding stock of eligible livestock and eggs of all eligible poultry types raised by contract producers." 

*** If you have not previously worked with Farm Service Agency, you will have some additional paperwork to fill out in addition to the CFAP 2 application. These forms include information such as name and address, basic personal and farm information such as your tax identification number, adjusted gross income information, direct deposit information to enable payment and information on conservation compliance. Your local USDA Service Center can help provide instruction on completing these forms for producers applying with Farm Service Agency for the first time. More details about this process available on farmers.gov/cfap2/apply.

This post is educational in nature and not financial or legal advice.