Are Specialty Crops Producers Poised to Miss Out on CFAP 2?

By Brian Breaux

Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation

In recent weeks, we have found that many Louisiana nursery as well as fruit and vegetable producers have not yet signed up for Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) with the December 11 deadline quickly approaching.

For those not familiar, CFAP 2 is a USDA program that was created to provide indemnities to farmers to offset the impact of coronavirus to their farm operations where many producers lost markets and received lower prices for their crops due to the virus.  Almost every commodity is eligible for CFAP 2, including nursery crops and fruits and vegetables.  However, in conversations with the Louisiana Farm Service Agency, many nursery and fruit and vegetable producers have not yet signed up for CFAP 2.  

CFAP 2 is different from the first CFAP that provided assistance to producers for losses that occurred between January 15 to April 15, 2020. CFAP 2 is a broader program that will provide better assistance to producers.  For nursery, fruit and vegetable producers, CFAP 2 provides payments based on the producer’s 2019 crop sales.  CFAP 2 payments for these crops are calculated using a declining stair-stepped formula with sales of $0 to $49,999 multiplied by a rate of 10.6%; sales of $50,000 to $99,999 multiplied by a rate of 9.9%; sales of $100,000 to $499,999 multiplied by a rate of 9.7%; sales of $500,000 to $999,999 multiplied by a rate of 9.0%; and sales over $1 million are multiplied by a rate of 8.8%. 

CFAP 2 payments are only paid on the value of the raw commodity; therefore, producers must remove 2019 sales revenue received from anything other than the value of the raw commodity, such as packaging, containers, labor, transportation, etc….  The payment limit for CFAP 2 is $250,000, however higher payment limits of $500,000 or $750,000 may apply to two or three person partnerships and LLCs that meet the 400-hour labor and management requirements.   

The Farm Service Agency is urging nursery and fruit and vegetable producers who have not applied for CFAP 2 to contact their local parish FSA office to schedule an appointment as soon as possible.  While CFAP 2 is provided to offset the impact of the coronavirus, CFAP 2 could also be very helpful to producers who have sustained damages/losses from recent hurricanes. According to the CFAP 2 calculator, for example, a producer with $200,000 in 2019 sales would receive $19,950 from CFAP 2 and a producer with $800,000 in 2019 sales would receive $76,050 from CFAP 2.  

Producers can go to Farmers.gov to read about CFAP 2.  The Farmers.gov website also contains an Excel - CFAP 2 calculator to enable producers to input their sales to calculate their CFAP 2 payments, as well as fill out their CFAP 2 application. The year 2020 has been a year of hardships for many producers with losses due to coronavirus and three hurricanes.  CFAP 2 can provide timely assistance to producers, but they must apply before the December 11 deadline.