USDA released a $19 billion coronavirus aid package Friday, but that funding will provide limited relief due to payment limits and the overall size of the package, according to Pro Farmer policy analyst Jim Wiesemeyer.
The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) places a $125,000 per commodity cap with an overall program payment limit of $250,000. Wiesemeyer told Farm Journal Live that those limits are very constraining for larger operations and, in particular, dairies.
“My sources say, almost in unison, that they [USDA] really dropped the ball relative to that pay cap language,” Wiesemeyer said. “That won’t go very far for efficient, larger producers, and they’re going to find out because if there’s any concensus of any criticism of this, it’s on that one.”
There also remains criticism of the overall size of the package. Congress earlier only raised Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funding to $23 billion instead of the full $50 billion allowed under the program.
“You’re going to see, in future months, Congress restore that to at least $50 billion,” Wiesemeyer said.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, meanwhile, told the AgriTalk Radio Show that they funding needs to be raised to $68 billion.
See Wiesemeyer’s full analysis on Farm Journal Live in the player above.
Listen to Duvall’s comments on AgriTalk in the player below.
