USDA Freezes CFAP Payments to Farmers

I think it is almost 40 years that I have been a subscriber to the Pro Farmer newsletters and daily market updates. The emphasis is grain and livestock markets but Pro Farmer also include some farm news. In yesterdays Pro Farmer Before the Open I read that the "USDA has suspended the processing and payments under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program- Additional Assistance has halted implementation until further notice. FSA offices will continue to accept applications during the coming days," said a notice on the USDA CFAP page.

Remember in early January the Trump Administration announced the eligibility under CFAP one and CFAP two had been expanded to target some aid for contract pork and poultry producers. Apparently there were some additional funds available in those programs. Remember too that later on in December Congress passed and President Trump signed into law another $900 billion Covid aid plan. There was another $13 billion in aid for farmers.

The Farm Service Agency has said this action was "routine" so maybe the delay will not be too long. The Pro Farmer story did not mention the WHIP + program payments being suspended but I did read another article that said they were suspended too. So, we will just have to see how this plays out. I suspect with a new Administration and new Secretary of Agriculture they just wanted to review and get up to speed on what the USDA was doing and the payments will resume soon?