Ag Policy Blog

USDA on Monday will begin sign up and start sending out payments under the Pandemic Assistance for Producers program – an umbrella for payments to both livestock and crop producers.

For crop farmers and cattle producers who enrolled last year in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 1, CFAP 2) no additional signup will be needed based on your earlier application. The aid will trigger $20 per-acre payments expected to total $4.5 billion under CFAP 2.

In cattle, producers will receive an automatic additional CFAP 1payment will be based on the life stage of cattle reported during the height of a producer's inventory in that period from April 16 to May 14 last year:

Feeder cattle under 600 pounds: $7

Feeder cattle more than 600 pounds: $25.50

Slaughter cattle: fed cattle $63

Slaughter cattle: mature $14.75

All other cattle: $17.25

Those payments for crop and cattle producers should start showing up in bank accounts around April 10, said Todd Barrows, a program specialist for the Kansas Farm Service Agency, during a webinar on the new aid package hosted by Kansas State University Agricultural Economics.

USDA also will reopen enrollment for new or modified applications under CFAP 2 on April 5 for at least the next 60 days to provide more opportunities for specialty crop farmers, organic farmers as well as small and socially disadvantaged producers to sign up for aid. CFAP 2 includes an array of commodities including broilers, eggs, dairy, pullets, more than 230 specialty crops and horticulture crops.

While USDA is reopening aid for CFAP 2, those cattle producers who did not apply for CFAP 1 last year will not be eligible to enroll for those new top-up payments.

Pork producers also were expecting a $17 per head payment based on CFAP 1 inventory, but that payment has been put on hold as USDA re-opens applications for that program. Contract growers also could receive a payment of up to 80% in lost revenue in 2020, and applications for those payments begin April 5 as well.

The split between CFAP 1 and CFAP 2 also could subject some producers to payment limits for the multiple CFAP programs as well. Each program has a $250,000 limit for all commodities combined. The cattle aid is being released under CFAP 1 while the crop aid falls under CFAP 2.

The CFAP payment limits could be as high as $750,000 for corporations, limited liability corporations, limited partnerships, trusts or estates provided that up to three individual owners in an entity provided at least 400 hours of active labor or management during the production of 2020 commodities.

At least $6 billion in funds has been set aside to help another long list of industries but USDA has not specified details on enrollment. That includes aid for euthanized livestock and poultry, the biofuels industry, timber industries, dairy farmers through the Dairy Donation Program, as well as funding investments in various processing industries.

CFAP 1 so far has paid $10.6 billion to 652,309 producers with cattle, milk, corn, hogs, soybeans and upland cotton as the largest commodities for payments.

CFAP 2 has paid $13.3 billion to 879,011 producers with corn, cattle, sales commodities, soybeans, milk, wheat, hogs and upland cotton as the largest commodities by rank.

USDA wants producers to call their local FSA offices if they need assistance with an application. Local offices remain closed to visitors. USDA's aid programs portal can be found at: https://www.farmers.gov/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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