The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to American farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to this direct support to farmers and ranchers, USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program is partnering with regional and local distributors — whose workforces have been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels and other food service entities — to purchase $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy and meat and deliver boxes to Americans in need.

Through the Farm Service Agency (FSA), the USDA began accepting applications last week from agricultural producers who have suffered losses. Producers of all eligible commodities will apply through their local FSA office with applications accepted through Aug. 28. The Park County office is located at 1017 U.S. Highway 14-A outside Powell.

CFAP provides assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a 5% or greater price decline due to COVID-19 and face additional significant marketing costs as a result of lower demand, surplus production and disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities.

Farmers and ranchers will receive direct support, drawn from two possible funding sources.

The first source of funding is $9.5 billion in appropriated funding provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability (CARES) Act to compensate farmers for losses due to price declines that occurred between mid-January 2020 and mid-April 2020. It provides support for specialty crops for product that had been shipped from the farm between the same time period but subsequently spoiled due to loss of marketing channels.

The second funding source uses the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to compensate producers for $6.5 billion in losses due to ongoing market disruptions.

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, as are dairy producers. Livestock eligible for CFAP include cattle, lambs, yearlings and hogs. Eligible specialty crops include, but are not limited to, almonds, beans, broccoli, sweet corn, lemons, iceberg lettuce, spinach, squash, strawberries and tomatoes.

There is a payment limitation of $250,000 per person or entity for all commodities combined. Applicants who are corporations, limited liability companies or limited partnerships may qualify for additional payment limits where members actively provide personal labor or personal management for the farming operation. Producers will also have to certify they meet the Adjusted Gross Income limitation of $900,000 unless at least 75% or more of their income is derived from farming, ranching or forestry-related activities.

Documentation to support the producer’s application and certification may be requested, though the FSA has streamlined the signup process to not require an acreage report at the time of application and a USDA farm number may not be immediately needed.

To ensure the availability of funding throughout the application period, producers will receive 80% 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 at a later date as funds remain available.

A full list of eligible crops, along with applications and details about how payments will be calculated, can be found at www.farmers.gov/cfap. For additional information, contact Park County Farm Service Agency County Executive Director Darla Rhodes at 307-271-3118.