By Mary Leigh Oliver
AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. – Alabama farmers continue to be impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. To help offset some of that financial loss, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) second Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) is reopening for enrollment on Monday, April 5.
The first CFAP began with 13,386 applicants. The USDA provided more than $94 million in payments to Alabama producers. CFAP 2 began in the fall of 2020. A total of 13,561 applications were approved in Alabama for payments totaling more than $92 million.
CFAP 2
The same CFAP 2 program from last fall will be reopening out of concerns that not all producers were aware of the program’s details and eligibility. According to Alabama Cooperative Extension System Specialist and Assistant Professor Adam Rabinowitz, some producers received insurance and other disaster loss payments in 2019 that affected their initial eligibility.
“To account for these issues, the program will be reopening to allow new applicants and revised applications,” Rabinowitz said.
Agricultural producers of more than 250 commodities who share in the risk of producing a community are eligible for this program.
Registration
Applications will be available online beginning April 5. For producers who do not currently have a relationship with FSA, there will be additional information to complete.