COVID Assistance Available For Farmers, Ranchers
Specialists from the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program of the National Center for Appropriate Technology are available to help farmers and ranchers apply for assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2.
The CFAP2 program has almost $14 billion available to help almost every form of agriculture business impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. More crops and agriculture operations are eligible under CFAP2 than under the first CFAP program earlier this year.
Farmers and ranchers can apply directly at www.farmers. gov/cfap or by contacting their local USDA Farm Service Agency office. The deadline for applications is Dec. 11 and those interested in applying are encouraged to do so as soon as possible.
Farmers and ranchers interested in getting help applying for CFAP2 can contact the staff at ATTRA’s free hotline at 800-346-9140 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT or at askanag@ncat.org. ATTRA also has an online chat system at attra. ncat.org.
Compared to the first CFAP program, CFAP2 offers a new category of relief payments for producers of sales commodities, which includes hundreds of specialty crops, aquaculture, nursery crops, floriculture items, and other commodities not included in the price trigger and flat-rate payment categories.
Relief payments for this wide category of goods are roughly 10 percent of the value of a producer’s 2019 sales. For example, a farm with a 2019 gross sales revenue of $125,000 could receive a relief payment of slightly more than $12,500.
