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The
U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday it is extending
the deadline to apply for direct payments through the
Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to Sept. 11.
The announcement came after an Aug. 7 letter from dozens of farm
groups asking the agency to extend the deadline for farmers to
apply.
"Many hard-working farm families have not gone through federal
programs before and need help navigating their way through the
process," said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm
Bureau Federation, in a statement reacting to the news. "We
encourage the USDA to expand its outreach efforts."
To ensure availability of funding, the USDA initially released
only 80% of approved payments to farmers. But nine weeks into
the program, less than half of the $16 billion allotted has been
awarded. The agency said it will now pay out the nearly $1.8
billion it held back from initial payments.
The USDA also expanded the program to include 42 new crops and
15 new livestock or aquaculture classifications, including
bananas, nectarines, microgreens, sheep, salmon, tilapia,
nursery crops and cut flowers.
"CFAP is just one of the many ways USDA is helping producers
weather the impacts of the pandemic. From deferring payments on
loans to adding flexibilities to crop insurance and reporting
deadlines, USDA has been leveraging many tools to help
producers," Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a
statement.
(Reporting by Christopher Walljasper; Editing by Dan Grebler)
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