The legislative session in Florida provides opportunities for farmers to voice their concerns on what programs need funding. The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association (FFVA) encouraged its producers to contact senators and representatives about the need to fully fund the Fresh From Florida program at $10.05 million.
“Appropriate funding for the Fresh From Florida program is incredibly important. We understand there are difficult decisions to be made with the state budget this year and deeply appreciate the positive steps the budget conference committee has already taken to appropriate funds. That said, fully funding the program means Fresh From Florida can increase its reach and impact, providing Florida farmers with even more resources to market their products to a national and global audience,” FFVA president Mike Joyner said.
The program helps market products for Florida’s 47,000 agricultural producers.
Mike Joyner
The “Fresh From Florida” logo is displayed on product packaging and signage. Only members of the Florida Agricultural Promotional Campaign are able to utilize the logo. It associates the members’ products with Florida agriculture’s worldwide image of excellence.
“With a $22 return on investment for every $1 invested, the Fresh From Florida program has generated $130 million in additional cash receipts and has reached over 60 million consumers annually through retail partnership programs. The difference is substantial, and our grower members would not be able to establish this level of engagement with national retail buyers or consumers outside of Florida without the program,” Joyner said.
With that said, it is up to the growers to inform their legislators about the difference this program has made.
“When our members engage, policymakers get to hear straight from the men and women who see firsthand how effective the program is in marketing support. After a devastating year for so many amidst the pandemic and with increased pressure from the supply of foreign products – most notably from Mexico, growers need every tool available to remain competitive in the global marketplace and help raise awareness about the importance of supporting local farmers and buying Florida-grown fruits and vegetables. Never has that message been more important,” Joyner said.
Florida’s legislative session will end on April 30.
Bob Redding, who works for the Redding Firm and serves as a lobbyist for agricultural groups in Washington, D.C., believes the 117th Congress yields a positive outlook for vegetable and specialty crop producers in the Southeast.
Scott
Prominent Georgians are represented on the House Ag Committee. The committee is empowered with legislative oversight relating to the U.S. agriculture industry, forestry, nutrition and rural development, according to the press release announcing Congressman David Scott (GA-13) as the committee’s new chairman.
Scott has served in the House Ag Committee since 2003. Scott replaces Collin Peterson, who lost his seat in Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District to Michelle Fischbach.
Redding added that Georgia Congressmen Austin Scott (GA-08) and Rick Allen (GA-12) will remain on the House Committee.
Bishop
Congressman Sanford Bishop (GA-02) remains the Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture.
“It’s historical in that one state controls both, in the House, the authorization committee, House Ag, as well as the funding committee or bank for USDA for Food and Drug Administration with House Ag and Appropriations. That’s a very good thing for us, particular Southeasterners and Georgians,” Redding said. “This is highly unusual, historical as far as our lifetime in the House. That should work well for Southeast specialty crop on a lot of the policy issues, dealing with the USDA and FDA.”
One agricultural lobbyist believes next Tuesday’s hearing with the International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding blueberry imports is a “story of David and Goliath.”
Bob Redding, who works for the Redding Firm and serves as a lobbyist for agricultural groups in Washington, D.C., believes the American Blueberry Growers Alliance (ABGA) has a strong case to make to the ITC against the imports of blueberries from other countries, including Mexico. But cases will also be made from groups who oppose ABGA’s position.
Redding Comments
Redding
“Once the administration initiated with the ITC the Section 201 investigation, most of these blueberry countries that are blueberry exporters that have been saturating the markets during our growing season, our marketing season, they hired attorneys here and formed organizations. At least one new organization was formed to stop the 201 or to influence the 201 fight or advocate against the position of U.S. blueberry growers,” Redding said.
“It is a story of David and Goliath. I don’t know any other way to put it. The U.S. growers have been impacted negatively. It’s become increasingly problematic as far as marketing and selling at a fair price that would allow these growers to make a profit. They don’t see how over the long run that they survive selling below what their cost of production is.”
Final Decision Rests with the President
Redding also cautions Southeast producers that the final decision will rest with President-Elect Joe Biden and his administration. He will make a decision based on the recommendations from the ITC.
“We do not know their position on this. I’m sure they don’t have one yet. We have a new U.S. Trade Representative. Ambassador (Robert) Lighthizer initiated this and the administration with the ITC. We know how they felt about it,” Redding said. “We will have a confirmation process in the Senate for the new U.S. Trade Rep. Soon thereafter, we’ll start talking with the political folks in the new administration about this issue. I would think that nomination would move through prior to this case finishing up with the ITC.”
Hearing is Necessary
From a blueberry producer’s standpoint, Tuesday’s hearing is necessary because of the disruption in the marketplace from foreign imports.
According to the American Blueberry Growers Alliance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Marketing Service reported a 68% increase in imported fruit from Mexico from 2019 to 2020, amounting to more than 15 million pounds of fresh blueberries during a 14-week period. Mexico, along with Peru, Chile, Canada and Argentina account for more than 98% of total U.S. imports. Import values increased from $530 million in 2014 to $1.2 billion in 2019.
This drastically impacts the market for producers in blueberry-producing states, including Georgia and Florida.
ABGA’s Position
The ABGA’s position is that American blueberry producers need protection from rising imports from foreign markets, especially during the U.S. growing and harvest season.
“The numbers are very frightening. They just can’t continue to operate with the market being flooded like this. It just doesn’t work,” Redding said. “You look at the compliance variables that U.S. growers have to adhere to, wage rates. If you’re H-2A, you know what those rates are in the Southeast. That is an expensive program, expensive from an administrative position, running those programs and expensive from a wage rate and housing and all that’s being provided; transportation. These countries don’t have to do that.”
American producers also have to contend with environmental variables and food safety variables; much higher standards than the countries exporting to U.S.
“It’s about fairness. It’s about a level playing field. If our growers had the same variables, our growers know they can compete with these countries. But we’re dealing with a different set of rules. They don’t play by the same rules we do,” Redding said.
Cannabis and its usage. Marijuana leaf and marijuana products. Cosmetics, hemp milk, hemp oil, cookies, brownies and nutritional supplements.
(FDACS) — The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.3884, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, by a vote of 228-164. This comprehensive, bipartisan cannabis reform package would decriminalize marijuana and take much-needed steps to address the racial injustices of prohibition. As of November 2020, a record-high 68 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a noted cannabis advocate, offered the following statement:
“This vote marks the monumental progress our country continues to make as states – and now the U.S. House of Representatives – recognize the urgent need to end the federal government’s misguided cannabis prohibition, and begin to right the wrongs of the War on Drugs and its damage to communities of color. I applaud the leadership of cannabis’ congressional champions and the diverse group of organizations whose tireless work made this historic legislation and vote happen. I am hopeful that this long overdue measure will be prioritized in the 117th Congress, on behalf of the countless families whose lives were upended by the War on Drugs, patients who need safe and secure access to medical marijuana, and the diverse array of entrepreneurs seeking the economic potential of this growing industry, including hemp farmers right here in Florida.”
Growers take steps to protect farmworkers’ health so they can continue to ensure an abundant, safe food supply is available to U.S. consumers.
Image source: The Pajaronian
One governmental lobbyist believes agricultural groups and organizations need to tackle issues together and not depend on Congress to devise its own playbook with topics that are trending across the country.
This would lead to more touchdowns rather than missed opportunities.
Bob Redding, who works for the Redding Firm and serves as a lobbyist for agricultural groups in Washington, D.C., believes agricultural groups from the west and southeast need to work cohesively on topics like H-2A reform especially during a time of transition in Congress and in the White House.
Redding Comments
Bob Redding with the Redding Firm speaks during the Ag Forecast meeting in Lyons, Georgia in 2018. By UGA CAES.
“Every time we get into a new Congress and we start talking about an immigration reform package or Ag labor or H2A reform package, we have groups spring up to work on these things. This sends a very mixed message to members of Congress, particularly those who haven’t been around a while and haven’t been involved in this debate,” Redding said. “As you know, the frequency of members coming and going in Congress, not staying very long, staff coming and going; (there’s) less seniority and less tenure. It’s very confusing. We have each side come up. They do their fly-ins at the beginning of Congress, first or second quarter, and the messages are all different. Some are weighted heavier for the west. Some are heavier for the southeast.
“We have to get together and send a common message. We can’t go to Congress and say, ‘We can’t figure out what to do. You fix it for us.’ That’s just not going to work. It hasn’t worked. We have a multi-year track record of failing on these initiatives. Until we figure that out from an industry perspective, we really aren’t going to make any progress on it.”
H-2A
H-2A refers to the temporary agricultural employment of foreign workers. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act Authorizes the lawful admission into the United States of temporary, nonimmigrant workers to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature.
Redding said the administrative burden on H-2A is getting worse for employers who utilize the program.
“If the new administration takes a different view on H-2A than the current administration, the administrative piece is going to get worse. We may see some reforms. We went from the (President Georgia W.) Bush administration to (President Barak) Obama’s first term, there were some reforms that were reversed at the Department of Labor,” Redding said. “This part could get more problematic for Ag employers if we don’t address something from the employer side through Congress. The pitch is in the first couple of quarters that growers from these two regions need to work it out.”
According to a previous story in VSCNews, Florida was the largest user of the H-2A program during the first three quarters of the year with 28,005 certified positions. Georgia, another major user of the program, listed a little more than 23,000 certified positions.
Updated Methodology
Just recently, the Department of Labor updated the methodology for determining the annual Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) in the H-2A program. The new rule improves the consistency of the AEWRs, provides stronger protections for workers and establishes better stability and predictability for employers in complying with their wage obligations.
Alabama lawmakers have never seen a legislative session like the one that took place this year. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced lawmakers to end Alabama’s 2020 legislative session early, causing several issues to fall by the wayside.
Legislators took a nearly two-month break during the COVID-19 outbreak, returing to Montgomery on May 4to pass state budgets and a few other bills before the regular session concluded May 18. Wearing masks and sitting apart, lawmakers gathered without lobbyists in the hallways or members of the public filling the galleries.
“Once lawmakers came back, the building was not open to the public … which was pretty unusual, especially taking on something as important as the budgets,” says Leigha Cauthen, Alabama Agribusiness Council executive director.
FUNDING FOR AGRICULTURE Due to the shortened timeframe, Education Trust Fund and General Fund budgets and local legislation were lawmakers’ top priorities.
The General Fund budget, at almost $2.4 billion, will greatly benefit the state’s agriculture industry. Under the proposed plan, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) will receive almost $15 million, including $100,000 in new appropriations for the North Alabama Agriplex, $130,000 for the industrial hemp program and $120,000 allocated to the Farm to School program. In addition, the new Sweet Grown Alabama state agricultural brand received $250,000.
Sweet Grown Alabama, which launched on March 13, is a non-profit organization that connects farmers in the state to retailers and consumers. Growers can market their produce anywhere in the state. The online database allows consumers to find farmers in their area. Farmers’ profiles include their location, products grown, social media links, website links and how consumers can buy their products.
In addition, the Soil and Water Conservation Committee will receive $2.9 million, including more than $81,000 in matching funds for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program to increase on-farm irrigation.
“I think the ADAI was pleased with this year’s funding. At the beginning of the session we were all optimistic about the budgets, but as COVID-19 unfolded, the budgets fell back to the same funding levels as last year,” Cauthen said. “But, some new money made its way to the ag department, so that’s great that those needs were met even as the budget was being scaled back.”
BILLS LEFT HANGING IN THE BALANCE Unfortunately, none of the bills that were of particular interest to Alabama agriculture were passed by the Legislature during the session.
“We lost a couple of good bills that were left hanging in the balance, but it also kept some bills from passing that could have been detrimental to the agriculture industry,” said Cauthen.
She expects special sessions later this summer or into the fall to take up additional important issues of the state. But, for the most part, she expects to see the bills she was tracking reintroduced during next year’s session.
For a complete list of the bills being tracked by the Alabama Agribusiness Council, visit www.alagribusiness.org.
Florida House Representative Randy Fine meets with UF/IFAS leaders, including Dean of Extension Nick Place, Director of Governmental Affairs Mary Ann Hooks and Associate Vice President Jeanna Mastrodicasa to discuss budget requests during the 2020 legislative session.
By Mary Ann Hooks
After several disappointing budget years, the 2020 legislative session will go on record as one of the most successful for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). The UF/IFAS priority this year was to increase our base budget. We submitted an appropriation request for a workload increase to make up for losses over recent years and fill critical positions in research and Extension.
Budget conference negotiations were the traditional UF/IFAS rollercoaster as we were down, then up, then down and then up in a really big way.
Negotiations were delayed as the struggle to make sure money was available to offset the expected economic impacts of COVID-19 was added to the other outstanding budget issues.
The late nights and lost weekend paid off. At midnight on Friday, March 13, the House offered a total of $2,586,078 for workload and the Senate accepted the offer. On Saturday afternoon, during the final Conference Committee meeting, an additional $1,213,922 was added to workload, meeting our initial request and bringing us a total of $3.8 million.
In addition, a bill that regulates, conforms and adds new specialty licenses plates and deletes under-performing plates included a Florida 4-H tag. This will provide some additional funding for the 4-H program.
Also, to our great relief, the House accepted the Senate position to maintain full funding for the quarantine facility that establishes biological controls for invasive species in Fort Pierce and for the statewide Lake Watch program. Both programs had been written out of the House budget bill.
The Legislature included $300 million in the $93.2 billion budget to provide for the resulting economic losses due to the COVID-19 virus. In addition, given the state’s heavy reliance on tourism, it included $3.9 billion in reserve funding, in expectation of a loss of revenues. At this point, there is no way to know if that will be adequate to make up for losses, even with the addition of federal emergency funds.
We don’t expect the budget to be finalized until June, as the impacts to the economy are still a moving target. Gov. DeSantis and the Legislature are waiting to see how things play out so state economic and budget experts will have more information to base revenue estimates.
We are working closely with the governor’s staff to provide information on UF/IFAS statewide work and how through the pandemic, our service continues to support the agriculture and natural resources industry. Budget vetoes are going to be different than they would have been a month ago and are yet to be determined. We don’t know what that will mean to our budget, but what we do know is that everyone will be impacted.
These are interesting times indeed.
Mary Ann Hooks is director of UF/IFAS governmental affairs
In preparation for the 2020 legislative session, more than 200 Florida Farm Bureau members traveled to Tallahassee in December to advocate on behalf of Farm Bureau’s legislative agenda.
By Adam Basford
On March 19, the Florida Legislature wrapped up the 2020 legislative session after a six-day extension caused by a delay in budget negotiations. Clearly, the COVID-19 outbreak has created significant uncertainty about Florida’s economy and there may be a need for the Legislature to meet again to revise the budget based on updated revenue forecasts. However, for now, Farm Bureau has had a successful session both with funding agricultural priorities as well as in the policy arena.
Over the course of the session, two policy priorities emerged as being vitally important. Because of recent blue-green algae outbreaks and Governor DeSantis’ focus on environmental issues, water quality was a key issue. The governor also sought to fulfill a campaign promise to pass a bill that would ensure that employers were hiring legal workers using the E-Verify system.
WATER QUALITY
SB 712 was the comprehensive water quality bill that largely incorporated the recommendations from the governor’s Blue-Green Algae Taskforce. It passed both chambers unanimously and was sponsored by Sen. Debbie Mayfield. The House companion was sponsored by Rep. Bobby Payne and Rep. Blaise Ingoglia.
The bill transfers the regulation of septic tanks from the Florida Department of Health to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, creates a water-quality grant program to assist in the transition from septic tanks to central sewer and requires water management districts to update stormwater permit requirements. It also reinforces the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (FDACS) authority to conduct best management practices (BMPs) implementation verification.
For Farm Bureau, the most important aspects of the bill add credibility to the agricultural BMP program through the two-year verification process and support additional research by FDACS and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences to develop new BMPs.
SB 712 passed by unanimous votes in both chambers and received broad, bipartisan praise.
“It is a fantastic beginning and a giant step forward for our state, for our environment, for our water quality,” said Rep. Toby Overdorf, a republican from Palm City.
“This bill actually advances water quality in Florida in a real, substantive way,” said Rep. Margaret Good, a democrat from Sarasota.
“This is going to be a piece of legislation that we’re going to talk about decades from now as the starting point where we shifted gears and proved to people that we, as a state, are prepared to take on these big environmental issues,” said Rep. Ingoglia, a republican from Spring Hill. “Make no mistake about it, this is an historic piece of legislation.”
RIGHTS OF NATURE
Recently, activist groups around the state have been pushing petitions for so called “rights of nature” county charter amendments. These amendments would grant legal rights to specific rivers, water bodies and other natural features. These amendments would give citizens a broad standing to sue governments or businesses who “interfere or infringe” on those rights. The organization leading this charge is the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, which so far has proposals in Alachua, Brevard, Lee, Orange and Osceola counties.
Rep. Ingoglia and Sen. Ben Albritton sponsored bills that contained language ultimately passed in SB 712 that preempts these types of initiatives. This provision will prevent frivolous lawsuits that could harm businesses and hamper the ability of local governments to issue permits.
E-VERIFY
The E-Verify bill (SB 664) sponsored by Sen. Tom Lee passed both chambers and is headed to the governor’s desk. However, the Senate bill was amended during the last days of session by the House and was passed including the provisions in HB 1265 by Rep. Cord Byrd.
Throughout the session, the chambers took different approaches to the issue. Generally, the Senate’s approach was to mandate the use of E-Verify for both public and private employers with certain exemptions for private employers. The House approach allowed all private employers to verify the employment eligibility of their workers by using E-Verify or by utilizing the federal I-9 verification process.
Farm Bureau believes that any immigration legislation should be done at the federal level. But during the session, we strongly preferred the House position because it allows employers to continue using the federally authorized system and because it does not create an additional regulatory burden.
FDACS BUDGET
The FDACS budget ended up much better than where it started. The Fresh from Florida program will be fully funded at $5.9 million. The initial House proposal included a $3.7 million cut. The Rural and Family Lands Protection Program will receive $8.7 million this year after being zeroed out in 2019. The Office of Agricultural Water Policy also received funding for eight additional staff that will be integral to implementing provisions of SB 712 that call for BMP verifications.
SUCCESSFUL SESSION
At the close of the 2020 session, it was clear that it was a successful one for Florida Farm Bureau and its partners in the agricultural community. Successful outcomes for top priorities this year were essential, and Farm Bureau appreciates its members and the Legislature for their hard work.
Adam Basford is director of state legislative affairs for Florida Farm Bureau Federation.
It’s a surreal moment in Georgia politics as two years of policy work hangs in the balance after lawmakers pressed the pause button on the 2020 legislative session due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before turning our full attention to working with state and federal leaders to navigate through the heath crisis, the Georgia Agribusiness Council (GAC) was actively engaged with legislators. Several bills of importance were still in play when things came to a halt.
Much of the early talk in the Capitol centered on Georgia’s budget as Gov. Brian Kemp called for across-the-board cuts to government agencies and programs. Debate was intense behind the scenes as everyone fought for their piece of the budget pie. Led by Chairman Terry England in the House and the late Senator Jack Hill in the Senate, Georgia agriculture fared relatively well. We were pleased to see many areas of importance, such as the department of ag and University of Georgia Extension specialists, saved from the deep cuts that first seemed imminent at the beginning of the session.
Many of the budget discussions are now irrelevant with lawmakers presented with a completely different scenario for budgeting for the 2021 fiscal year after a shutdown of the state and national economies.
RIGHT TO FARM ACT
Georgia Agribusiness Council’s Jake Tench and Will Bentley present Gov. Brian Kemp with a pair of Georgia-grown Wrangler jeans. Also pictured are Rep. Gerald Greene and House Ag Chairman Tom McCall.
After flying through the Georgia House of Representatives during the 2019 session, the Georgia Right to Farm Act (HB 545) remained tabled in the Senate as lawmakers continued to be badgered with misinformation from several environmental activist groups. The Right to Farm Act would provide added protections for Georgia’s farmers against frivolous “nuisance” lawsuits and would provide these protections evenly across all segments of agriculture, including fruits and vegetables.
This bill is vitally important to close loopholes in our current law and is supported by Gov. Kemp and leaders from both the House and Senate. If and when lawmakers resume the 2020 session, the final vote will be extremely close.
DISASTER PAYMENTS AND TAXES
HB 105 by Rep. Sam Watson, a South Georgia produce and cattle farmer, would exempt Hurricane Michael disaster payments from state income taxes. The bill passed through the House in 2019 and passed through the Senate shortly before crossover day. The main sections of the bill exempt payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) directly related to Hurricane Michael from state income taxes.
However, lawmakers in the Senate used the bill as a vehicle and attached additional language that deals with the taxation of ride share services in Georgia. While we often use Uber and other ride-sharing platforms to get around Atlanta during the legislative session, we focused our support on the portions of the bill that will have real impacts on agribusiness in Georgia. This bill moved far enough prior to the shutdown to make its way to the governor’s desk for final signature.
HEMP LEGISLATION
Georgia’s hemp program was a hot topic all year and lived up to the hype during the session. We worked to ensure loopholes in Georgia’s laws were removed and also worked to secure much needed funding for the program to be properly administered. This legislation primarily focuses on five key changes to last year’s legislation that was signed into law. These changes include:
Cleaning up the language within the bill to include and align with the rules and regulations that were released by USDA last year.
Allowing colleges and universities within the state to do on-farm research and to have a contractual agreement with third parties for this research.
Adding language to allow greenhouse growers to sell plants to other growers and to also allow for growers to sell to processors in other states that have a USDA-approved plan.
Increasing processor permit fees to $25,000 for the first calendar year and a $50,000 permit fee for renewal every year thereafter. This aims to make the regulatory program self-sustainable.
Codifing transportation requirements to call for documentation of the load.
The department of ag has already begun working with hemp growers and processors, and we are excited to see if this new crop option will provide a boost to agribusiness in the state like it has been touted to do.
TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR FOOD BANKS
A bill by Rep. Houston Gaines that now has added significance is HB 882, which would extend tax exemptions for food banks. This bill would eliminate the sunset period for the exemption from state and certain local sales taxes for the sale of food to qualified food banks. It would also expand the exemption for the use of food donated to qualified nonprofit agencies to include disaster relief. With food banks playing a large role in the coronavirus relief efforts, we hope that this bill will be considered in the Senate as soon as lawmakers return to conclude the session.
AG STRUCTURE EXEMPTIONS
HB 690, by Rep. James Burchett, passed the House with a vote of 169-1. This bill aims to exempt agribusinesses from having to pay full permit and inspection fees on agriculture buildings and structures. While the bill will still require these structures to get inspected and permitted, the fees for these services will be capped at $500.
The bill will only apply to those producers who qualify for a GATE (Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption) card through the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The structures that qualify for this legislation must be used directly for the commercial production or processing of agriculture commodities and will also include farm labor camps and housing for migrant workers.
Dozens of other bills that have impacts on Georgia’s specialty crop industry have seen action throughout the session. We have no way of knowing when lawmakers will return to complete the 2020 legislative session, but GAC will be there when they do. We will continue to advocate relentlessly for the best interests and priorities of Georgia agriculture.
Will Bentley is president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council.
The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) will bring much-needed relief to farmers impacted by COVID-19. Unfortunately, the funds allocated per farmer is not enough, says Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association (FFVA) President Mike Joyner.
Joyner
“Florida agriculture was just crushed by the pandemic. A lot of our members have had some really, really big losses. When that direct payment was first mentioned with that $250,000 cap, we were extremely disappointed. We are very appreciative that the cap has been raised,” Joyner said. “We’re grateful for the increase. But it still falls short because we did have members that lost millions. These are family farms.
“We still wish we could get a little bit more. We might try to do that as they begin to talk about a CARES (Act) 4 package. We’ll push to see if we can get that cap raised a little bit more and some more money into Florida.”
CFAP Background
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 in Florida when the coronavirus struck in mid-March.
Much of the produce season for this year is completed in Florida, especially in the southern portion of the state. Many are already thinking about next season and need CFAP funds in place so they can proceed accordingly. Thankfully, CFAP payments are already being issued.
“We just hope they turn those checks around pretty quickly because these growers in south Florida are going to make decisions on inputs into July, first part of August.That’s when they’ll start ordering seed and fertilizer and all that kind of stuff,” Joyner said.
