Member Alert: Livestock Stimulus Payments, DoJ Investigation & Increased Cash Trade

(JULY 15) – Hopefully those of you that filed for the first round of CFAP payments had a smooth process. There are several issues that still need to be addressed – USCA outlined those in a letter to Congressional leaders last month. USCA also hosted a virtual fly-in last month with nearly 50 participants to raise this issue directly with members of both the House and Senate.

Bill Northey, Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation for the USDA, has told media that farmers will receive the remaining 20% of what they were owed under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Despite previous concerns regarding whether farmers would even receive the funds, Northey is expecting farmers to receive those payments by the end of August.

“We’d like to be able to do it earlier than that,” Northey said. “If we can look and see that we’re going to have plenty of dollars yet, of course we haven’t even announced the third group of commodities yet and we’re still partway through signup.”

Last week, USCA members met with USDA Under Secretary of Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach in Billings, MT to discuss the CFAP program, DoJ investigation, and price reporting reauthorization.  This week, USCA members will visit with Under Secretary Northey and Senator Steve Daines at an ag roundtable in Great Falls, MT.

We are pleased that Congress is taking note and acting accordingly when it comes to both the next round of CFAP payments, and the need to improve the cash market.  Agri-Pulse has a good interview with Sen. Hoeven from North Dakota outlining these positive developments. Details and the audio interview are found below…

Thanks,

Jess Peterson