All wheat is in! Last night, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments that extends eligibility to all classes of wheat. In the first round of CFAP only hard red spring and durum wheat qualified for payments. The $14 billion package will provide payments for commodities that saw at least ... Read More »
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds farm owners that they have a one-time opportunity to update Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program yields for covered commodities on the farm. The deadline is Sept. 30, 2020, to update yields, which are used to calculate the PLC payments for 2020 through 2023. Additionally, producers who elected Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) should also consider ... Read More »
Presidential candidates respond to questions from Farm Bureau From DTN Responding to questions from the American Farm Bureau Federation, President Donald Trump’s campaign points to the administration’s support for farmers and agriculture in regulations, trade and labor, while former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign counters a Biden presidency would repair some of the trade relations that have affected agriculture the ... Read More »
Last week, 26 U.S. representatives and 21 U.S. senators from wheat producing states issued letters to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asking that he use existing funds through the CARES Act to begin covering 2020 crop losses and to include all classes of wheat. “NAWG is grateful for Congressman Frank Lucas’s (R-Okla.) leadership on this important effort to ... Read More »
From USDA Farmers and ranchers can now contact a call center to receive one-on-one assistance from USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) employees ready to help. By calling 877-508-8364, customers can ask questions about FSA programs – including to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) – and get a jump start on program applications. The call center was created in response ... Read More »
From Reuters Top U.S. and Chinese trade officials reaffirmed their commitment to a Phase 1 trade deal, which has seen China lagging on its obligations to buy American goods, giving a boost to financial markets on Tuesday. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »
From agriculture.com Loopholes remain, but the USDA is tightening its crop subsidy rules by limiting who can collect a payment for managing a farm, historically one of its most porous definitions. The new regulation, to be published soon, requires people to perform at least 500 hours of management or at least 25 percent of the management work required annually to ... Read More »
By Trista Crossley “With travel being curtailed during the pandemic, it has been more difficult for us to meet in person with our legislators, so we want to thank Rep. Newhouse for coming to Ritzville to sit down with us,” said Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG). “We also want to thank those growers ... Read More »
From the Capital Press The USDA on Tuesday extended COVID-19 relief to nurseries, sheep ranchers and producers of dozens of other farm goods, while turning down aid to dozens of other commodities. Washington hop and wheat farmers were among those who were denied. USDA said there wasn’t evidence their prices slumped by 5% or more between mid-January and mid-April as ... Read More »
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced yesterday that additional commodities will now be covered by the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) in response to public comments and data. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline to apply for the program to Sept. 11. Unfortunately, USDA did not extend eligibility to any additional classes of wheat. ... Read More »
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