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Perdue elaborates on CFAP2

U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue is elaborating on the second Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

During a webinar hosted by Minnesota Farm Bureau Thursday, Perdue says there was a lot of urgency to get the original CFAP rolled out and USDA learned a lot in the process.

“We added commodities (and) I’ve learned about some commodities that I didn’t even know what they were when people showed damage from (COVID-19). We’ve got about 89 different commodities in crops that people are eligible for. Farmers of all sizes, large and small.”

USDA is sticking with the $250,000 payment limit despite criticism from farmers, farm groups, and some members of Congress.

Perdue says CFAP2 contains a new sales component for specialty crops that addresses the lack of a uniform standard for price discovery.

“It was frankly regionally different all over the country, so we’re going with a sales perspective there. If you had a different level of sales in 2019 (compared) to 2020, then you’ll qualify.”

Perdue says for other crops that didn’t qualify for CFAP1, there’s going to be a minimum $15 per-acre payment.

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