Coronavirus Food Assistance Program eligibility

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The theme “walking before running” continued this week as farmers continue to make progress toward completing this year’s planting season.

After touring the county on Friday and speaking to several producers, I am estimating we are 80 to 85 percent complete with planting both corn and soybeans. We still have many that have several acres to plant, but I think we are starting to see the “light at the end of the tunnel.”

I am also hearing the need for some replant as a result of poor emergence due to the cold extreme wet conditions we had earlier in the season. In many of these situations it is not whole field replant, but more spotting in areas.

I also know many livestock producers were able get some hay made this week. The rain late this week will slow things down again, but a favorable weather forecast through Tuesday should give farmers another window to get more acres planted and hopefully many will finish planting this week.

As we wind down planting season and the rain events slow work on many farms. I want to remind area producers to look into the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program — CFAP. The USDA Farm Service Agency and many of us in Extension have been trying to sort through all the details.

Locally, I have been communicating with Dale Hertlein, County Executive Director of the Clinton County Farm Service Agency to better understand the program and who may benefit from this program.

According to Hertlein, eligible producers who had an ownership share interest in 1 or more of the eligible CFAP commodities (4 categories listed below) can file a CFAP application by submitting a completed AD-3114, CFAP Application, to any USDA Service Center from May 26, 2020, through August 28, 2020.

An eligible producer is a person or legal entity who shares in the risk of producing a crop or livestock and who is entitled to a share in the crop or livestock available for marketing or would have shared had the crop or livestock been produced and marketed.

CFAP is available to persons and legal entities who had a share in the eligible commodity on January 15, 2020, and/or between April 16 and May 14, 2020, for all commodities other than dairy. Dairy is determined by looking at the months of January, February, and March 2020.

An application can be accepted using any of the following methods: (1) in person, when available; (2) by mail; (3) electronically by FAX or e-mail; or (4) online through www.farmers.gov.

The four categories mentioned include:

Non-Specialty Crops and Wool

Non-specialty crops eligible for CFAP payments include malting barley, canola, corn, upland cotton, millet, oats, soybeans, sorghum, sunflowers, durum wheat, and hard red spring wheat. Wool is also eligible.

Producers will be paid based on inventory subject to price risk held as of January 15, 2020. A payment will be made based on 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.

In the crop sector, there are many marketing contracts for producers may be involved with. Just this past week we received clarification on what non-specialty crop marketing contracts are eligible for CFAP and those would include: Basis Contract, Basis Fixed Contract, (Producer locks in basis leaving the future price to be set later); No Price Established, as well Delayed Price and Deferred Price contracts are eligible (in these cases, the producer delivers commodity without setting a sales price).

Keep in mind contracts not eligible include: Cash and Fixed Contracts, Forward Price, Cash Forward Price, Minimum Price, Options contracts, Window contracts, Hedge to Arrive, Futures and Futures fixed contracts.

Livestock

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.

Dairy

For dairy, the total payment will be calculated based on a producer’s certification of milk production for the first quarter of calendar year 2020 multiplied by a national price decline during the same quarter. The second part of the payment is based a national adjustment to each producer’s production in the first quarter.

Specialty Crops

For eligible specialty crops, the total payment will be based on the volume of production sold between January 15 and April 15, 2020; the volume of production shipped, but unpaid; and the number of acres for which harvested production did not leave the farm or mature product destroyed or not harvested during that same time period, and which have not and will not be sold.

Specialty crops include, almonds, apples, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beans, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, cauliflower, celery, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, grapefruit, kiwifruit; lemons, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, mushrooms, dry onions, green onions, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pecans, bell type peppers, other peppers, potatoes, raspberries, rhubarb, spinach, squash, strawberries, sweet potatoes, tangerines, taro, tomatoes, walnuts, and watermelons.

A full list of eligible crops can be found on farmers.gov/cfap.

If you have specific questions about CFAP contact Dale Hertlein and his staff at 937-382-2315. Information is provided on the program by USDA along with a webinar for new FSA program participants is available at farmers.gov/CFAP.

Finally you can find out more information at https://farmoffice.osu.edu/home.

Tony Nye is the state coordinator for the Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program and has been an OSU Extension Educator for agriculture and natural resources for over 30 years, currently serving Clinton County and the Miami Valley EERA.

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Tony Nye

OSU Extension

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