April 23, 2020
Secretary Perdue announced a new Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to support farmers and ranchers through the coronavirus pandemic. The $19 billion package including direct payments to agricultural producers for actual losses across a broad spectrum of commodities, and USDA purchases of certain commodities for donation to food banks and other feeding programs. While USDA has yet to publish specifics, Senator John Hoeven (ND) outlined some of the details.
Direct Assistance for Farmers and Ranchers: $16 billion in direct payments for farmers and ranchers funded through the CARES Act and CCC:
Producers will receive a single payment determined by using two calculations: (1) Price losses that occurred between January 1 and April 15. Producers will receive compensation for 85% of that loss. (2) Expected losses from April 15 through the next two quarters. Payments will cover 30% of expected losses.
For a commodity to qualify, it must have experienced at least a 5% price decline between January and April 2020.
The payment limit is $125,000 per commodity, with a maximum per person/entity total payment limit of $250,000.
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