IARN — It remains up in the air when the Biden Administration will distribute funds as part of the third round of aid through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
Passed by Congress in December, the third round of CFAP aid would continue to help farmers who are suffering from losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During his weekly conference call with farm reporters Tuesday morning, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley was asked if he knew when the third round of CFAP money was expected to be rolled out now that new Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has been sworn into office.
“No, but I don’t think it will be until after the 60 days – we started I think on January 20th – when they said they were going to review every decision that was made prior to January 20th on a lot of regulations and, in this case, on how they are going to distribute this money,” Grassley said. “So, I think sometime after March 20th, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen on March 20th or even April 20th. But I think with the money being available and the way they like to spend money, they surely wouldn’t argue with the decision made by a bipartisan group of people before Christmas.”
Farmers received positive news last week when Secretary Vilsack announced USDA had extended the deadline to apply for the latest round of CFAP aid. The deadline extends 30 days after USDA completes a review of the program. Andrew Wheeler with the Iowa Farm Bureau was happy about that announcement.
“You know it’s been a welcome and necessary lifeline for farmers who have suffered tremendous losses during the pandemic,” Wheeler said. “The extended time will help farmers have an opportunity to apply for that assistance.”
USDA told Agri-Pulse that it is currently “listening and gathering feedback so that we get help to as many producers as possible without focusing on one group or geography at the expense of another.”
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network
