USDA Closes Out Pandemic Aid

OMAHA (DTN) -- Farmers who filed claims with USDA under the Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP) will receive essentially 9.5 cents on the dollar for lost revenue during the 2020 pandemic.

On Wednesday, USDA announced PARP checks are going out after the Farm Service Agency (FSA) received nearly $7 billion in applications from 38,500 producers to split a $223 million pot of money.

PARP was expected to be the last bit of aid for farmers who did not receive support during the pandemic from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) 1 and 2, as well as the follow-up Pandemic Assistance for Producers. The need was significantly higher than expected.

USDA had opened the program to reach small and medium-sized producers and underserved producers who don't have access to crop insurance or other typical safety net tools.

"USDA realizes the importance of PARP payments, especially since they are benefiting producers who may not have received assistance through other USDA pandemic assistance programs," said Zach Ducheneaux, administrator for the FSA.

Ducheneaux noted PARP payments also will close out USDA's various pandemic relief programs that began with CFAP in the final year of the Trump administration when the coronavirus hit.

To be eligible for PARP, farmers needed at least a 15% loss in gross income in 2020 compared to earlier years. That was somewhat unique, as Ducheneaux indicated it was "one of the first times that FSA has delivered a program focused on decreases in revenue."

He added, "The number of applications we received for PARP assistance shows there is producer need for and interest in programs that consider other indicators of disaster impacts on their business, like decreases in revenue."

Under PARP's regulations "to ensure equitable funding distribution to all eligible producers," a payment factor of 9.5% was applied to all payments. USDA's calculations put the average PARP payment at $579.

"It is important to remember that, as part of filling gaps in equitable service to all pandemic-impacted producers, we were able to increase the number of specialty crops and underserved producers benefiting from pandemic assistance and bring new producers to FSA through our Service Center doors," Ducheneaux said.

"The demand for PARP assistance greatly exceeds available funding resources. We left no stone unturned in our efforts to find additional funding. We worked to assist as many producers in need of help as possible in designing PARP which requires the current decision to heavily factor payments consistent with program regulations."

USDA noted that CFAP and the Pandemic Assistance for Producers programs had already paid out $31.9 billion in aid to farmers and livestock producers.

The PARP checks are going out as USDA is drawing criticism from members of Congress and producer groups about how the department is distributing disaster aid under the 2022 Emergency Relief Program. USDA used a different payment factor for that program that was weighted more heavily toward smaller producers.

For more, see "USDA Pushes Back on Congressional Criticism of ERP Payment Math" here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

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

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