CFAP Payments in Pennsylvania

Sep 22, 2020

By Andrew Sandeen

Since receiving and processing 24,111 applications, $9.92 billion has been paid to farms through the first iteration of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), a federal assistance program administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency and intended to assist farms negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Except in a couple of other states, the application period closed on September 11th.

CFAP Dashboard from USDA website with Pennsylvania-specific data

In Pennsylvania, we have seen a total of $167.70 million dollars paid to 7,535 applicants, more than $104 million of which was for milk and based on production between January and March of 2020. Payments for livestock, which might include some animals from dairy farms, have totaled $33.03 million. For non-specialty crops (e.g. corn, soybeans) $22.18 million has been paid.

Interestingly, nearly two thirds of payments in Pennsylvania were for milk, while milk only accounted for 17.5% of total CFAP payments nationwide. Pennsylvania ranked fifth of all the states for total dairy payments.

In this wild ride of a year, federal assistance programs have certainly provided some positive benefits for agricultural operations in Pennsylvania. Remember that these payments should be included as government payment income for 2020 tax planning, and watch for any additional assistance programs which may still be coming.

Source : psu.edu

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.