NPPC Update Regarding USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Details

May 25, 2020

Today, USDA formally unveiled details of its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which provides direct payments to farmers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The program includes $3 billion in planned agricultural product purchases and $1.6 billion in direct payments to hog farmers. [Source: NPPC 19 May 2020]

According to the details announced today, CFAP will:

Provide payments directly to farmers who have suffered a five percent-or-greater price loss and who are facing significant marketing costs due to COVID-19. USDA intends to issue a single payment to each eligible producer, with the total calculated based upon the two funding sources: the CARES Act and the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). The CFAP final rule defines hogs as "any swine 120 pounds or more" and pigs as "any swine weighing less than 120 pounds." Under the CARES Act, payment for income loss will be based on the actual sales of hogs and pigs sold between Jan. 15 and April 15, 2020, multiplied by the CARES Act rate ($18/head for hogs, $28/head for pigs). Payments from CCC to aid in the removal or disposition of surplus agricultural commodities and for additional marketing and production costs will be based on a producer's unpriced hog and pig inventory between April 16 and May 14, 2020, multiplied by the CCC payment rate of $17/head for hogs and pigs;
Provide eligible farmers with 80 percent of the total payment, up to the payment limit, upon approval of the application. The remaining 20 percent will be paid at a later date as funds remain available; and
Include payment limitations of $250,000 per individual, as well as a $900,000 Adjusted Gross Income limit for individuals who do not derive 75 percent or more of their income from farming. Corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships that can certify that up to three members of the corporate entity provide at least 400 hours of active personal management or personal labor may be eligible to receive payments up to three times the limit.

Click here to see more...

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.