There are nearly 48,000 farmers across Michigan and effective today, Tuesday, May 26th, 2020, they can begin the process of enrolling themselves in a USDA program for relief payments up to $250,000 in light of the current coronavirus pandemic as part of that agency’s $16-billion Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
Gary McDowell, Director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, says, “Michigan is fortunate to be home to a strong, resilient and diverse food and ag sector,” and adds, “There is an army of people who grow, process, and retail our food who have also been hit hard by COVID-19. Governor Whitmer and MDARD continue to work with our partners at USDA to ensure our farmers and ag community members have access to the aid they need to weather this pandemic.”
Under the CFAP program, the aid is prorated — meaning farmers will receive 80-percent of payment in the initial distribution with the remaining 20-percent paid as funds remain available. Farmers should start receiving payment within a week of enrolling, with payments being capped at $250,000 per individual recipient.
Producers of all eligible commodities will apply through their local USDA Farm Service Agency office. Applications will be accepted through August 28, 2020. FSA has streamlined the sign-up process by not requiring an acreage report at the time of application, and a USDA farm number may not be immediately needed. Documentation to support the producer’s application and certification may, however, be requested.
Individuals who receive less than 75-percent of their income from farming can still receive CFAP payments if their adjusted gross income does not exceed $900,000 annually. 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.
These are USDA’s farmer guidelines by sector:
- For wool and row crops, including malting barley, canola, corn, upland cotton, millet, oats, soybeans, sorghum, sunflowers, durum wheat, and hard red spring wheat, payments will be based on inventory subject to price risk held as of January 15th. A payment will be made based on 50-percent of a producer’s 2019 total production or the 2019 inventory as of January 15th, whichever is smaller. That amount will be multiplied by the commodity’s applicable payment rates.
- For cattle, lambs, yearlings and hogs, the payment will be calculated based on the producer’s number of livestock sold between January 15th and April 15th, multiplied by the payment rates per head, and the highest number of livestock between April 16th and May 14th, multiplied by the payment rate per head.
- For dairy producers, the payment will be based in part on the farmer’s milk production for the first quarter of 2020, multiplied by the national price decline during the same quarter. A second part of the payment will be based on a national adjustment to each producer’s first-quarter production.
- For specialty crops, including almonds, beans, broccoli, sweet corn, lemons, iceberg lettuce, spinach, squash, strawberries, and tomatoes, payments will be based on the amount a farm sold between January 15th and April 15th; the volume a farm shipped during the period but was not paid for; and the number of acres that was never harvested.
More information and a full list of eligible crops can be found online at this link: http://farmers.gov/cfap
