(Washington, D.C., September 29, 2020) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced today that more than 100 million food boxes have been distributed in support of American farmers and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
Perdue
Earlier this month, the Department announced it had entered into contracts with 50 entities for the third round of food box deliveries, which include contracts to purchase up to $1 billion authorized by President Donald J. Trump.
“It is incredible to think that in a little more than five months, this food box program has gone from an idea to a reality that has provided more than 100 million boxes of nutritious foods to people in need and along the way has helped to keep farmers and ranchers in business and allowed Americans working in our nation’s food supply chain to get back to work,” said Secretary Perdue. “I have been meeting with food banks and recipients across the country and it’s been heartening to hear all the positive feedback on how the program has saved businesses and fed Americans in need. We are now into the third round of deliveries and we’re working harder than ever to continue to build on the success of the program.”
“With 100 million Farmers to Families Food Boxes delivered, we have utilized critical funding authorized by President Trump to continue connecting our great American farmers to millions of food insecure families. I am proud of this Administration’s mission to keep our most vulnerable families fed and support American family farms in the process,” said Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump.
You may view the Farmers to Families Food Box Program video or click on the image below to watch a highlight video of USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program in action across the United States.
As laborers return to the fields this fall in Florida, both unauthorized workers and those authorized to plant and pick crops through a guest worker visa are vulnerable to the coronavirus. In fact, an estimated 75% of Florida crop workers have at least one underlying health issue that puts them at risk of developing COVID-19 complications, new UF/IFAS research shows.
However, sources of risk for these two groups are different, according to the study.
That is largely because domestic unauthorized workers are significantly older than H-2A workers, which increases their risk of developing COVID-19 complications, said Gulcan Onel, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of food and resource economics.
Most of the members of both legal groups of workers do not speak English and have less than a high school education, Onel said.
“These findings highlight the need for accessible and culturally-minded outreach efforts to educate workers about preventive measures for COVID-19,” she said.
One example of UF/IFAS outreach is based at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee. Faculty and experts there are hosting a series of workshops in September and October to help train farm supervisors to keep their employees as safe as possible from COVID.
For her study, Onel used three different sources of data, including a citrus harvester’s survey her team conducted in several Florida counties. Onel also synthesized existing health and employment data from federal sources. She then compared the demographic differences of H-2A workers with those of unauthorized agricultural workers to draw conclusions about COVID-19 risks among these farm workers.
Onel
The federal H-2A guest workers program provides legal, temporary nonimmigrant visa classification to foreign-born workers, where able, willing and qualified U.S. workers are not available. That work typically lasts no longer than one year.
Unauthorized workers are foreign-born workers who lack proper, legal documentation to work in the United States. Data show that unauthorized domestic workers, on average, have been in the United States for more than a decade.
In addition to legal status groups, workers’ susceptibility to the virus varies by location across Florida counties, the study shows.
Onel and her colleagues saw a high correlation between counties with the most COVID-19 cases and counties with the most agricultural workers. Among counties with the highest crop worker populations, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Hillsborough counties had the most COVID-19 cases. They were followed by Broward, Collier, Lee, Manatee and Polk counties.
Among other findings:
H-2A workers live in employer-provided and controlled housing, which may make it easier to take measures to help mitigate COVID-19 for them, compared to domestic workers. On the other hand, H-2A workers spend more time traveling to their work sites than domestic workers, which may make transportation a higher risk factor for this group of workers.
Preventing or mitigating COVID-19 among unauthorized workers gets more complicated by today’s immigration environment. Contact tracing and encouraging workers to seek testing and/or care may be difficult because unauthorized domestic crop workers fear they will be deported. Ensuring privacy of workers and their contacts will be vital for effective mitigation strategies.
H-2A workers send more of their earnings back home compared to domestic unauthorized workers; therefore, H-2A workers likely have stronger ties with family in their countries of origin, the survey found.
“This is important with the recent spikes in COVID-19 cases in Mexico and South America; higher remittances (back home) indicate that H-2A workers — who are mostly married and have minor-aged children – likely have stronger ties to their country of origin,” Onel said. “They might be more reluctant to return to U.S. farms amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, existing workers in the fields may continue working, even when they are sick, to keep up with their support for family back home. Piece-rate payment schemes may further encourage risk-taking behavior among workers, posing a challenge for containing outbreaks.”
While the study’s findings provide insights into COVID-19 risks for Florida crop workers, predicting when and a COVID-19 outbreak will occur is difficult and no trivial matter, Onel said.
“This type of prediction requires tracking of data over time,” Onel said. “The county-level maps in our article — which layer farm worker populations and COVID-19 cases — can easily be updated periodically for more up-to-date information on higher-risk agricultural counties.”
Applications continue to be accepted from fruit and vegetable crop producers looking to participate in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2. Veronica Nigh, economist with American Farm Bureau, encourages producers in Georgia, Florida and Alabama to get signed up sooner rather than later.
“Anytime there’s a limited amount of funds, a lot of folks would be interested in it. You never know how the rules on CFAP 2 are a little bit different. The commodities are a little bit different than the last time. You never know if the changes that have been implemented are enough to bring folks out of the woodwork who weren’t participating in the first program,” Nigh said. “There’s no need to wait. Get on in there and make sure you get applied for the program.”
Fruits, Vegetables, Tree Nuts Included
According to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 website, more than 230 fruit, vegetable, horticulture and tree nut commodities are eligible for CFAP 2. These includes blueberries, strawberries, pecans, cucumbers and squash.
CFAP 2 follows the first round of CFAP, which had an application period of May 26 through Sept. 11. CFAP 2 has allocated $14 billion to aid producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It never seems to be enough, whatever is allocated. There’s a lot of producers and our industry is one that’s high valued. We hope that it provides the emergency assistance that growers need,” Nigh said. “I think we should look a little bit to the first CFAP program which has yet to reach its full subscription for a variety of different reasons. So far, about $10 billion in support has been provided to cattle, hog, dairy, non-specialty crops, specialty crops and other producers for losses experienced through mid-April. Certainly, the $14 billion would suggest they’re in the ballpark of what makes sense for a limited window of damages, which is what the CFAP programs have to look at.”
Agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs due to the coronavirus pandemic can sign up for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) beginning today. Applications will be accepted through Dec. 11, 2020.
Rabinowitz
Auburn University Assistant Professor and Extension economist Adam Rabinowitz discusses the impact of this new program and how it is much different than the original.
“It is much, much broader in terms of commodities; pretty much all of the row crops are there, including cotton and peanuts for this area. The fruits and vegetables have been vastly expanded. I think there’s over 230 fruits and vegetables and tree nuts,” Rabinowitz said. “This is going to have very far-reaching effects in terms of what agricultural producers are eligible for payments through this program through the FSA (Farm Service Agency).”
Additional $14 Billion
An additional $14 billion is being made available for agricultural producers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will use funds being made available from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act and CARES Act to support row crops, livestock, specialty crops, dairy, aquaculture and many additional commodities.
Specialty crops eligible for CFAP 2 exclude crops with an intended use of grazing, green manure, or left standing.
Wide-Ranging Impact
The fact that this program encompasses a wider range of commodities speaks to the fact the USDA was able to really gauge the impact COVID-19 had across all agricultural spectrums.
“There were two things that were happening. For starters, the CFAP 1 program was really based on thinking about the 2019 crop and what was held in terms of inventories and what the immediate market responses were. The 2020 crop was something that was just starting to move through the system; just starting to be planted, and so there really wasn’t an opportunity to see what those market impacts would be right away,” Rabinowitz said.
“I think nobody really knew how long this pandemic was going to go and what the true impacts were. I think this speaks volumes to the fact that we know that there have been wider impacts than what was first anticipated. The fact that there are still market disruptions that are occurring. It’s creating some challenges for agricultural producers. This is a means that the USDA and president are using to try to help mitigate those effects.”
Are you a producer of specialty crops including fruits, vegetables, horticulture, tree nuts, honey, maple sap, or indigo whose operation has been directly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic? USDA is implementing Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) 2 for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19.
CFAP 2 will provide producers with financial assistance that gives them the ability to absorb some of the increased marketing costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. USDA will accept CFAP 2 applications beginning Monday, Sept. 21 through Dec. 11, 2020. Learn more at www.farmers.gov/cfap.
Specialty crops eligible for CFAP 2 exclude crops with an intended use of grazing, green manure, or left standing.
CFAP 2 payments are available for eligible producers of specialty crop commodities categorized as either sales commodities or flat-rate crops. Specifically:
Sales commodities have payment calculations that use a sales-based approach, where producers of eligible commodities are paid based on five payment gradations associated with their 2019 sales. Eligible fruits, vegetables, horticulture, tree nuts, honey, and maple sap are categorized as sales-based commodities.
Flat-rate crops either do not meet the five-percent-or-greater national price decline trigger noted above or do not have data available to calculate a price change, but will have CFAP 2 payments calculated based on eligible acres of the crop planted in 2020. Indigo is categorized as a flat-rate commodity.
CFAP 2 Payments for Sales Specialty Crops
Payments for fruits, vegetables, horticulture, tree nuts, honey, and maple sap will be based on the producer’s 2019 sales of eligible commodities in a declining block format using the following payment factors, and will be equal to:
The amount of the producer’s eligible sales in calendar year 2019, multiplied by
The payment rate for that range.
Payments for fruit, vegetable, horticulture, tree nut, honey, and maple sap producers who began farming in 2020 and had no sales in 2019 will be based on the producer’s actual 2020 sales as of the producer’s application date.
Eligible sales only include sales of raw commodities grown by the producer. The portion of sales derived from adding value to the commodity, such as processing and packaging, and from sales of products purchased for resale, is not included in the payment calculation.
Example: A producer’s 2019 sales of eligible commodities totaled $75,000. The payment is calculated as ($49,999 times 10.6%) plus ($25,001 times 9.9%) equals a total payment of $7,775.
Additional examples of CFAP 2 sales commodity calculations for five hypothetical specialty commodity producers can be found on page 22 of the Cost-Benefit Analysis published under CFAP 2 Resources on farmers.gov/cfap. We recommend referencing these examples to calculate your estimated CFAP 2 payments for fruits, vegetables, horticulture, tree nuts, maple sap, and honey.
UF photo/More than 70% of Florida’s large farms sell to the service industry which includes theme parks, hotels, restaurants and cruise lines. When COVID-19 brought the tourism industry to a crashing halt this spring, farmers around the state quickly pivoted to sell the bounty of fruit and vegetables that were at peak harvest.
More than 70% of Florida’s large farms sell to the service industry which includes theme parks, hotels, restaurants and cruise lines. When COVID-19 brought the tourism industry to a crashing halt this spring, farmers around the state quickly pivoted to sell the bounty of fruit and vegetables that were at peak harvest.
In a recently published journal, Catherine Campbell, a UF/IFAS assistant professor and community food systems specialist and Gene McAvoy, a UF/IFAS Emeritus Extension agent specializing in stakeholder relations and vegetable crops, describe the impact COVID-19 had on these farms and how they overcame these impacts with partners around the state.
Florida farms took losses that are hard to comprehend. One grower plowed under 2 million pounds of green beans and 5 million pounds of cabbage because there was nowhere to send the produce before it spoiled. Another farm dumped 100,000 pounds of tomatoes in one week. There are many more examples of losses like this or larger from around the state.
“I don’t think people know how large Florida’s agriculture industry is and that COVID-19 hit these growers at the worst possible time,” Campbell said. “It was our peak harvest season, and the market fell out. Florida supplies most of the produce east of the Mississippi River in the spring and it all just stopped. It was bad for everyone, but producers in other parts of the country were at planting time, not harvest time. For our producers, they had already reached the maximum investment on those crops – paid to plant, maintain (spray, irrigate, fertilize, etc.) and in many cases they already harvested crops – then they couldn’t sell them.”
While the losses were huge, farmers and industry organizations put their heads together to quickly find a home for fresh fruit and vegetables around the state that were on the cusp of waste.
The University of Florida, industry groups, and state and regional organizations such as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Farm Bureau Federation developed a variety of programs and resources to connect Florida growers to buyers.
“The vegetable industry has always been very volatile with rapid changes in price and demand, even in normal years, in addition to challenges imposed by weather, pests and diseases,” McAvoy said. “In many ways they are used to making changes in how they operate. The growers made rapid course changes and sought alternative markets out of necessity.”
Retailers around the state committed to purchasing more Florida and U.S.-grown produce, which was large in part to consumer demand generated from public awareness of the issues Florida farms faced.
Direct-to-consumer sales were another mode farmers utilized. By promoting through partner organizations and social media, farmers marketed their produce directly to their local communities. One packing house in Homestead opened on weekends for consumer sales and sold more than 120,000 pounds of vegetables. While this was still far less produce than what would normally be sold to traditional markets, it helped consumers and growers alike.
“The losses were heartbreaking,” Campbell said. “This event was a ‘cue to action’ to develop support systems that make it possible for producers to make these kinds of changes in market channels. For some growers, they are just too large to be able to exclusively sell direct-to-consumer, but it can help mitigate events like COVID-19. Their profits were probably not even close to breaking even, but at least it’s a help.”
Despite substantial losses, producers harvested and transport produce to food banks and other hunger-relief organizations to meet the increased demand from those in the community who recently lost their jobs or were furloughed. One sugar producer donated 42,500 pounds of sugar to a rum distillery to make hand sanitizer for donation to first responders, hospitals, nursing homes and essential food supply employees.
“We were building the plane while we were flying it,” Campbell said. “These programs can help producers, large and small, find buyers when their traditional supply chain breaks down. The hope is that this strategy will provide a foundation to support food system resilience in the event of future public health emergencies and natural disasters. It can also help move product instead of it going to waste. If we know where there is food and where people need it, we can mobilize it and get it to those in need.”
For many Florida growers, summer is the off-season, but growers plan to plant for the spring as they normally would each year, McAvoy said.
“Markets have rebounded nicely since May and acreage will likely be back to normal,” he said. “Many growers plan to continue direct sales to local consumers in addition to their wholesale channels that have reopened. With some markets still down, such as cruise lines, buyers and brokers are looking for ways to continue to diversify their sales.”
To support Florida farmers year-round, buy seasonal Florida-grown produce at your local retailer and when available, purchase directly from farmers in your area.
Many specialty crop producers are eligible for aid payments under USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which covers more than 130 types of specialty crops.
That was Administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s)Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Bruce Summers, who urges specialty crop producers to take another look at CFAP before the Sept. 11 deadline.
The deadline is this week for farmers and ranchers to apply for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Producers who faced price declines and additional marketing costs due to the coronavirus pandemic and are interested in applying to receive direct payment relief need to do so by Friday, Sept. 11.
According to VSCNews, more than 160 commodities are eligible for CFAP. These include certain non-specialty crops, livestock, dairy, wool, specialty crops, eggs, aquaculture and nursery crops and cut flowers.
According to https://www.farmers.gov/cfap, CFAP provides vital financial assistance to producers of agricultural commodities who have suffered a 5%-or-greater price decline or who had losses due to market supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 and face additional significant market costs. Many of the fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, watermelons and strawberries are covered under CFAP and were in production, especially in Florida, when the coronavirus struck in mid-March.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced additional commodities would be covered under CFAP and the deadline to apply was extended to Sept. 11. It was also announced that producers with approved applications will receive their final payment.
Customers seeking one-on-one support with the CFAP application process can call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer general assistance. This is a recommended first step before a producer engages the team at the Farmer Service Agency (FSA) county office at their local USDA Service Center.
Back by popular demand, additional training dates have been added for COVID-19 safety trainings for farm workers and supervisors.
The additional dates include Sept. 16, Sept. 24, Oct. 7, Oct. 13 and Oct. 21. The trainings will be held via zoom from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will include English and Spanish instruction.
It is free training on how to protect your workers, supervisors and essential personnel from contracting COVID-19. Training will be based on CDC guidelines. We encourage all your employees who are in direct contact with farm workers to attend. You will receive a copy of resources to help you access further information related to COVID-19 and assist you in obtaining masks and other materials.
Free Registration
Pre-registration is required. To register please send an email to Barb Hyman at hymanb@ufl.edu and include: • Which date you would like to attend • Your company name and address • Your email address and phone number • Names of those who will be attending, their job title and which language they prefer; English or Spanish. (There will be separate Zoom links for each language.)
Upon receiving your email, you will be sent the Zoom link. It is suggested that you set up your free Zoom account before the meeting, if you do not have it already. We will include the website in our email.
In this Ask the Expert, Charles Stephens, Associate Deputy Administrator, Specialty Crops Program, for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) answers a few questions on how the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) can assist specialty crop growers.
Charles Stephens, Associate Deputy Administrator, Specialty Crops Program, for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service
What is the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)?
CFAP provides direct payments to producers to offset price declines and additional marketing costs due to the pandemic. CFAP is not a loan program and there is no cost to apply.
The application period for CFAP ends on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. If you are a specialty crop grower who has been impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but you thought you weren’t eligible to receive support from the CFAP program, I encourage you to take another look. On August 11, 2020, USDA declared an additional 40-plus specialty crops, nursery crops and cut flowers are now eligible for this program.
How can it help specialty crop producers?
For eligible producers, the CFAP payments can help offset price declines and additional marketing costs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Who is eligible for CFAP payments?
You are eligible to apply for CFAP payments if you are an individual grower or a legal entity who shares in the risk of producing a crop and you are either entitled to a share in the crop available for marketing or you would have shared had the crop been marketed. If you are an urban farmer or a farmer with a Community Supported Agriculture operation, you also are eligible for CFAP payments if you meet the requirements of an eligible producer. Producers growing crops for processing also are eligible; however, processors are not.
If you are an eligible producer, you can receive CFAP payments if you experienced at least one of the following between January 15, 2020, and April 15, 2020, as a result of the pandemic:
You had crops that suffered a five percent-or-greater price decline.
You shipped produce, but it subsequently spoiled due to loss of marketing channel.
You had shipments that did not leave the farm or mature crops that remained unharvested.
What specialty crops are eligible for the payments?
Over 130 specialty crops are eligible for this program. This includes crops grown for fresh markets, and crops grown for processing. USDA announced on August 11, 2020, that nursery crops and cut flowers are also eligible for CFAP assistance. Nursery crops means decorative or non-decorative plants grown in a container or controlled environment for commercial sale. Cut flowers includes cut flowers and cut greenery from annual and perennial flowering plants grown in a container or controlled environment for commercial sale.
The total CFAP payment to producers for eligible specialty crops will be based on the following conditions between January 15, 2020, and April 15, 2020:
The volume of production sold.
The volume of production shipped, but unpaid.
The number of acres for which harvested production did not leave the farm or mature product was destroyed or not harvested during that same time period, and which have not and will not be sold.
How can specialty crop farmers apply for CFAP payments?
You must apply for a CFAP payment through your local Farm Service Agency (FSA) at your local USDA Service Center. You can find the phone number and the location of your local USDA Service Center and view its operating status at farmers.gov/coronavirus/service-center-status. If you are a new customer to USDA, your local FSA staff will work with you to apply for the program.
You can download the CFAP Application Generator and Payment Calculator and forms at farmers.gov/cfap/apply. Producers with an eAuthentication account can apply for CFAP via the CFAP Application Portal.
USDA Service Centers are open for business, including some that are conducting business in person by appointment only. Remember to check your local Service Center’s operation status and please call ahead to schedule an appointment.
Carl Purvis is the Deputy Public Affairs Director for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. Carl can be reached at Carl.E.Purvis@usda.gov.
![ Charles Stephens, Associate Deputy Administrator, Specialty Crops Program, for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service Charles Stephens, Associate Deputy Administrator, Specialty Crops Program, for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service [Click and drag to move] ](https://www.farmers.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/Charles-Stephens1.jpg)