Farm Bureau priority issue update
NOTE: At the time of publication, the General Assembly was in the height of session. There will be a comprehensive list and summary of the outcomes of Farm Bureau Priority Issues in the July issue of Tennessee Farm Bureau News.
There are three Farm Bureau Priority Issues which have passed thus far, and all had a strong, favorable vote in both chambers. Other Farm Bureau Priority Issues were still working through the committee process at the time of publication.
• SB1368 Bell – HB1163 Lamberth which prohibits local boards of health from regulating agriculture passed the Senate March 18 and the House March 25
• SB831 Niceley – HB830 Kumar establishes a lemon law for farm equipment and passed the Senate April 15, and the House March 25.
• SB203 Haile – HB332 Alexander ensures students who participate in 4-H sponsored events are credited as present for school passed the Senate March 8, and the House March 29.
• SB1155 Haile – HB1286 Marsh transfers the Tennessee State Fair to the Wilson County Fairgrounds and passed the House April 22 and was scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate.
Farm Bureau commends these sponsors for their diligence and dedication to Tennessee agriculture.
COVID RELIEF FOR FARMERS:
The Pandemic Assistance for Producers, which was announced March 24, will distribute more than $12 billion and will help farmers who previously did not qualify for COVID-19 aid and expand assistance to farmers who have already received help. Additional sign-ups will not be necessary for those who previously submitted CFAP applications. The funding includes $6 billion to develop new programs or modify existing proposals using remaining discretionary funding from the Consolidated Appropriations Act. Another $5.6 billion will be directed to formula payments to cattle producers and eligible flat-rate or price trigger crops. In addition, $500 million in new funding is included for existing programs such as the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, Farmers Opportunities Training and Outreach Program, Local Agricultural Marketing Program, Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Agricultural Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Economic Adjustment Assistance for Textile Mills Program.
ASSISTANCE FOR NON-SPECIALTY AND SPECIALTY CROPS:
Price Trigger and Flat-Rate Crops:
USDA has expanded direct financial assistance for commodity producers with the intent to expedite payments totaling more than $4.5 billion, impacting more than 560,000 producers. Producers of 2020 price trigger crops and flat-rate crops are eligible to receive a payment of $20 per eligible acre of the crop. Price trigger commodities, as defined in the second Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, are major commodities that meet a minimum 5% price decline for the week of January 13-17, 2020, and July 27-31, 2020. These crops include barley, corn, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, upland cotton and all classes of wheat, among others.
Flat-rate crops either do not meet the 5%-or-greater national price decline trigger or do not have data available to calculate a price change. For flat-rate crops, CFAP 2 payments were calculated based on eligible acres of the crop planted in 2020. More than 230 fruit, vegetable, horticulture and tree nut commodities were eligible for CFAP 2 along with honey, maple sap and turfgrass sod. These commodities will also receive a payment of $20 per acre.
Eligible producers will not need to reapply or submit a new application if they submitted a CFAP 2 application. FSA will automatically issue payments to eligible price trigger and flat-rate crop producers based on the eligible acres included in their CFAP 2 applications.
Expanded Assistance to More Producers:
USDA is dedicating $6 billion to develop new programs or modify existing proposals that were included as discretionary funding in the endof-year COVID-19 stimulus package. USDA is making modifications to direct support payments to account for price differentiation among commodities, including costs for organic certification or to continue or add conservation activities.
USDA will also make available an additional $100 million in Specialty Crop Block Grants that are administered through each state’s department of agriculture, along with an additional $100 million for the Local Agriculture Market Program.
Assistance for Processors:
USDA is following through on using a portion of the appropriated money for payments to domestic users of upland cotton and extra-long staple cotton between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. The payment rate is calculated by multiplying 6 cents per pound by the average monthly consumption of the domestic user from January 1, 2017, through December 31, 2019, then multiplying it by 10, e.g., cotton payment = $0.60 x (avg. monthly consumption January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019).
Moreover, one of the consequences of COVID-19 precautions and stay-at-home orders was a significant decrease in fuel consumption, which slashed biofuel demand. Since the beginning of 2020 through midDecember, the cumulative decline in ethanol production is nearly 2 billion gallons. USDA has made payments available to producers of advanced biofuel, biomass-based diesel, cellulosic biofuel, conventional biofuel or renewable fuel due to unexpected market losses as a result of COVID-19.
LIVESTOCK:
Contract producers:
Many producers were left out of the CARES Act and subsequent CFAP iterations because farmers who raise animals under a contract for another entity that owns the animals could not participate. However, these producers saw their income significantly reduced as many of their barns (which they financed the construction of and still were required to service the debt on) remained empty due to supply chain disruptions earlier in the pandemic. The COVID-19 relief bill passed in December identified these producers as being eligible for support. However, USDA clarified payments for contract growers under CFAP Additional Assistance are currently on hold and are likely to require modifications to the regulation as part of a broader evaluation. FSA will continue to accept applications from interested contract growers during this evaluation period.
Cattle:
Included in the program is additional inventory-based direct payments for cattle producers. USDA is implementing an increase in CFAP 1 payment rates for cattle based on the number of cattle in inventory between April 16, 2020, and May 14, 2020. USDA estimates that roughly 410,000 producers will be impacted by this and the total level of support could equal roughly $1.1 billion. These payments will be made automatically, so there will be no need for producers who were already enrolled to reapply. Only producers who previously applied for CFAP 1 are eligible to receive this additional payment.
Swine:
The information released by USDA on January 15 said swine producers who participated in CFAP 1 would receive an automatic “top-up” payment of $17 per head, increasing the total CFAP 1 inventory payment to $34 per head.