The application process for the second round of national relief payments from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) has begun. Local United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agencies are accepting applications through December 11, 2020. These payments will provide livestock producers some relief from production risk, as well as market losses, related to the fallout from continued shutdowns across business sectors.

Livestock producers are eligible by having “ownership and production risk” and an adjusted gross income less than $900,000 for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018, with at least 75% of that income coming from farming or ranching. Payments for CFAP2 are capped at $250,000 per person or entity across all eligible commodities. For beef cattle, the payment rate is $55/animal, excluding breeding stock. For CFAP, breeding stock is defined as cows in production and herd bulls. All other beef cattle inventory owned between April 16 and August 31, 2020, can be paid on. Further break down on other commodities can be found through a USDA fact sheet on CFAP2.

As of October 25, 2020, the current approved applications total $7.635 billion, with a total program allowance of $14 billion. National statistics rank cattle as the highest commodity claimed in applications at $1.69 million in total payments. Nebraska has had 24,517 applications approved for a total of $517 million, with livestock accounts totaling 11,021 applications and $170 million so far. For more information on approved application statistics you can visit the CFAP 2.0 Dashboard.