The USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) reached another milestone this week, with direct payments totaling nearly $1.2 billion approved for more than 20,000 dairy producers since May 26.
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Dave Natzke
Editor / Progressive Dairy

CFAP payments are eligible to all dairy operations with milk production in January, February and/or March 2020. As of July 13, dairy applications processed by USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices stood at 20,247, up from 19,071 on July 6.

According to USDA data, there were an average of about 34,187 dairy farms licensed to sell milk during 2019. Based on USDA Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program information, about 27,396 dairy operations had milk production history established with FSA. (The programs are separate, and dairy operations do not need production history under DMC to receive CFAP payments.)

In addition, unlike other FSA programs, dairy operations with multiple owners are eligible for up to three individual payments under CFAP, so the number of applications does not necessarily represent the total number of operations receiving payments. Special payment limitation rules are applied to participants that are corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships. These corporate entities may receive up to $750,000 based upon the number of shareholders (not to exceed three shareholders) who are contributing at least 400 hours of active person management or personal active labor.

For a CFAP dairy fact sheet, click here.

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The top states for CFAP dairy payments as of July 13 were:

  1. Wisconsin: $247.8 million; 5,152 applicants
  2. California: $171 million; 859 applicants
  3. New York: $119.9; 2,297 applicants
  4. Minnesota: $71 million; 2,063 applicants
  5. Pennsylvania: $70.4 million; 2,122 applicants
  6. Michigan: $63.3 million; 769 applicants
  7. Idaho: $51.3 million; 281 applicants
  8. Iowa: $36.8 million; 824 applicants
  9. Ohio: $34.2 million; 774 applicants
  10. Washington: $34 million; 246 applicants
  11. Texas: $30.9 million; 243 applicants

For an interactive dashboard that provides payment details, click here.

Through July 13, dairy represented about 20.4% of total CFAP payments. In addition to dairy, payments totaled $2.97 billion to livestock producers, $1.54 billion to producers of non-specialty crops and $158.5 million to producers of specialty crops. Overall, the USDA FSA has approved about $5.87 billion in payments to more than 409,423 agricultural producers who applied for assistance through the CFAP, as of July 13.

Applications will be accepted through Aug. 28, 2020, with application numbers and program payments announced each Monday on the CFAP website.

USDA adds more specialty crops to CFAP list

Effective July 13, the USDA made more than 40 additional commodities eligible for CFAP payments – all under the “specialty crops” category. The USDA also expanded funding categories for several additional commodities and adjusted payment rates for others. A full list of these commodities, and their associated payment rates, can be found here.

Alfalfa and other forage crops, as well as wheat, rye and feed barley, were not added because those commodities did not suffer a 5%-or-greater price decline from mid-January 2020 to mid-April 2020. end mark

Dave Natzke