Jenniffer González-Colón facilitates guidance to farmers and producers in Puerto Rico about USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon hosted a webinar for the Island's agricultural sector to discuss the requirements and application process for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This program assists farmers, ranchers and producers across the nation who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and face significant costs as a result of a decrease in demand, disposal of surplus production, and disruptions to shipping and marketing of commodities.

Joining the Congresswoman on the webinar were the Secretary of Agriculture of Puerto Rico, Carlos Flores, the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Farm Service Agency (FSA) at USDA, Wanda Pérez, and the Director of USDA Rural Development in Puerto Rico, Josué E. Rivera.

Although the USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the CFAP in mid-April, the federal agency began accepting applications this past Tuesday, May 26. Farmers and ranchers are now able to begin processing their application through the FSA-USDA web page, and should contact FSA offices as part of this process.

The webinar mainly focused on the direct assistance portion of the CFAP and how stakeholders can submit an application through FSA-USDA.

USDA published a preliminary list of crops that are eligible for compensation through CFAP. Among the eligible products are the non-specialty crops that include corn, millet, sorghum, soybeans, among others. Specialty crops include avocado, beans, cabbage, cantaloupe, carrots, celery, gherkin, eggplant, grapefruit, lemon, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, mushrooms, dry onion, green onion, papayas, peppers, potatoes, raspberry, spinach, squash, strawberries, sweet potatoes, taro or taro, tomatoes, melons, among others. The federal agency will be accepting suggestions and comments from farmers to consider including additional crops for a period of 30 days, starting Wednesday, May 22 until June 22, 2020.

Ranchers with a variety of cattle and milk production are also eligible to apply.

"It is important that our farmers carefully review the lists of eligible commodities and verify if their crops or products are included or not. There is a 30-day window for farmers to submit comments and requests for the inclusion of additional crops. On Wednesday, May 20, I asked the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to include bananas, coffee, and plantains as eligible crops. However, farmers must also contact the FSA directly to submit a request to list their crop as eligible, along with data that shows the damages suffered by the ongoing pandemic. We want this program to benefit our agricultural sector on the Island as much as possible," said the Congresswoman.

Farmers who have a crop listed as eligible can start processing applications by contacting the FSA-USDA offices. The application period currently runs from May 26, 2020 through August 28, 2020. Approved applications can receive a maximum of $250,000 per person or entity for all commodities combined, with some limited exceptions, sent as direct deposit.

Additional information and application forms can be found at farmers.gov/cfap. Producers of all eligible commodities can apply online with the assistance of their local FSA office. Documentation to support the producer's application and certification may be requested.