Apply for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

Beginning Tuesday, May 26, United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency will be accepting Coronavirus Food Assistance Program applications from eligible producers. CFAP will provide direct financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a 5% or greater price decline or have experienced losses due to coronavirus-related market supply chain disruptions and face additional significant market costs.

The USDA will consider additional crops to be eligible based on inquiry. Currently eligible commodities include:

• Non-specialty Crops: malting barley, canola, corn, upland cotton, millet, oats, soybeans, sorghum, sunflowers, durum wheat, and hard red spring wheat
• Wool
• Livestock: cattle, hogs, and sheep (lambs and yearlings only)
• Dairy
• Specialty Crops
  • Fruits: apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupe, grapefruit, kiwifruit, lemons, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines, tomatoes, watermelons
  • Vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, dry onions, green onions, peppers, potatoes, rhubarb, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, taro
  • Nuts: almonds, pecans, walnuts
  • Other: beans, mushrooms

Additionally, to be eligible, a person or legal entity must have an average adjusted gross income of less than $900,000 for tax years 2016, 2017 and 2018; however, the limit does not apply if 75% of their AGI comes from farming, ranching or forestry.

Eligible farmers and ranchers will receive one CFAP payment, drawn from two possible funding sources. The first source of funding is the $9.5 billion provided in the CARES Act and compensates farmers for losses due to price declines that occurred between mid-January 2020 and mid-April 2020 and for specialty crops for product that were shipped and spoiled or unpaid product. The second funding source uses the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to compensate producers for $6.5 billion in losses due to on-going market disruptions.

For more information on applying for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, visit www.farmers.gov/CFAP.