June 25, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
Donny Green, County Executive Director for the DeKalb-Cannon County Farm Service Agency announces that the signup for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) began May 26 and will continue until August 28, 2020. As of June 22, Green says that his office has issued $1,037,853 to 198 livestock and crop producers in DeKalb and Cannon counties and, if you are a livestock or crop producer and haven’t signed up yet, you should make an appointment to get your application processed.
“America’s farming community is facing an unprecedented situation as our nation tackles the coronavirus. President Trump has authorized USDA to ensure our patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers are supported and we are moving quickly to open applications to get payments out the door and into the pockets of farmers,” said USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue.
Livestock eligible for CFAP include cattle, lambs, yearlings and hogs. The total payment will be calculated using the sum of the producer’s number of livestock sold between January 15 and April 15, 2020, multiplied by the payment rates per head, and the highest inventory number of livestock between April 16 and May 14, 2020, multiplied by the payment rate per head. To clarify, both sold and unsold livestock are eligible for payment under this program.
Non-specialty crops eligible for CFAP payments include corn and soybeans. Producers will be paid based on inventory subject to price risk held as of January 15, 2020. A payment will be made based 50 percent of a producer’s 2019 total production or the 2019 inventory as of January 15, 2020, whichever is smaller, multiplied by the commodity’s applicable payment rates.
This program is a self-certification program, but approved applicants may be spot-checked and required to provide documentation to support the producer’s application and certification. To ensure the availability of funding throughout the application period, producers will receive 80 percent of their maximum total payment upon approval of the application. The remaining portion of the payment, not to exceed the payment limit, will be paid later as funds remain available. If funds are not sufficient to cover the 20 percent remaining amount needed for approved applications, a prorated payment factor will be applied to all applications. In other words, there is no funding advantage to be the first or last applicant if the application is received by the August 28, 2020 deadline.
USDA Service Centers are open for business by phone appointment only. While program delivery staff are in the office, they are working with producers by phone, email, and postal mail, and using online tools whenever possible. Persons wishing to conduct business with the FSA are required to call the DeKalb-Cannon County Farm Service Agency at 615-597-8225, Ext. 3 to schedule a phone appointment. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.