Aid deadline for farmers is Sept. 11

Farmers who face lower prices and higher marketing costs because of COVID-19 have until Friday, Sept. 11 to apply for federal aid of up to $250,000 per person or up to $750,000 for farming corporations with up to three shareholders.

Farmers must apply for the funds, which do not need to be repaid, through the USDA Farm Service Agency's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, or CFAP.

More than 160 commodities are eligible for CFAP, including certain non-specialty crops, livestock, dairy, wool, specialty crops, eggs, aquaculture, and nursery crops and cut flowers. All eligible commodities, payment rates, and calculations can be found on farmers.gov/cfap .

Before contacting the local FSA office, farmers should call 877-508-8364 for help with the application.

Producers have several ways to apply:

1. An online portal at farmers.gov/cfap . This allows producers with secure USDA login credentials, known as eAuthentication, to certify eligible commodities online, digitally sign applications, and submit directly to the local USDA Service Center.

2. Use the CFAP Application Generator and Payment Calculator at farmers.gov/cfap . This Excel workbook allows customers to plug in information specific to their operation to determine estimated payments and populate the application form, which can be printed, then signed, and submitted to their local USDA Service Center.

3. Download the AD-3114 application form from farmers.gov/cfap and manually complete the form to submit to the local USDA Service Center by mail, electronically, or by hand delivery to an office drop box. In some limited cases, the office may be open for in-person business by appointment. Visit farmers.gov/coronavirus/service-center-status to check the status of your local office.

USDA Service Centers can also work with producers to complete and securely transmit digitally signed applications through two commercially available tools: Box and OneSpan. Producers who are interested in digitally signing their applications should notify their local service centers when calling to discuss the CFAP application process. You can learn more about these solutions at farmers.gov/mydocs .

All other eligibility forms, such as those related to adjusted gross income and payment information, can be downloaded from farmers.gov/cfap/apply . For existing FSA customers, these documents are likely already on file.