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Sign Up Now for CFAP 2

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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) is reminding farmers and ranchers that the deadline to apply for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) is Friday, December 11. This program provides direct relief to producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19.
 
“Producers have one more month to get their applications in for this important relief program,” said Richard Fordyce, Farm Service Agency administrator. “Applying is simple and our staff is available to assist every step of the way.”
 
CFAP 2 will provide up to $14 billion to eligible producers of certain row crops, livestock, dairy, specialty crops, aquaculture and more. All eligible commodities, payment rates and calculations can be found on farmers.gov/cfap. This is a separate program from the first iteration of the program, and interested producers must complete a new application to be eligible for the second payment.

First Round of MFP 2.0 Payments Being Processed

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Farmers should start receiving the first round of Market Facilitation Program payments very soon. According to USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce, the payment process began Wednesday for farmers with approved applications. “Over 200,000 applications have been received since sign up began on July 29,” says Fordyce.

Farmers should expect to see up to $14.5 billion in payments. The first tranche covers 50 percent of that amount. The second and third payments of 25 percent each will depend on conditions at the time. “We’ll look at if there has been movement in trade negotiations in late fall. If not, then we’ll look at it again in January.” The MFP 2.0 application deadline is December 6.

FSA Administrator Visits ND to Discuss MFP Payments

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USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce paid a visit to North Dakota, meeting with farmers, agriculture organizations and other state leaders. The trip was prompted by North Dakota Senator John Hoeven to discuss details of the new Market Facilitation Program payments. This was the first roundtable event for the Administrator with farmers regarding the payments.
 
Farmers are still curious as to how the county rates were determined. Fordyce said in order to get payments out sooner rather than later, USDA had to come up with a calculation that didn’t require taking a crop to harvest. “It’s based on acres of crops that were planted in that county, the average yields of those crops times a number by commodity,” said Fordyce. “For example, if there was a county that experienced a weather anomaly within the last three years, that would impact the county yield number.”
 
Hear more and read more about Fordyce’s visit.