IARN — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for a CARES Act program to assist hog producers who were impacted by low market prices at the height of the pandemic.
USDA is taking applications for the Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program now through February 25th. The program was created through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by Congress.
Katie Kramer, agricultural program specialist with the Iowa State Farm Service Agency Office, says the program provides $54 per head in assistance for producers who sold hogs to packers during a certain time period.
“This is going to provide assistance to producers that sold hogs through a negotiated sale, spot sale, cash sale — it’s referred to in a number of ways,” said Kramer. “This covers the time period of April 16, 2020 through September 1, 2020, which is the period where these producers who sold in this fashion saw the greatest reduction in market prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Kramer explains farmers applying will be required to submit documentation that shows their hog sales qualify under the program.
“A negotiated sale is going to be a sale by a producer of hogs directly to a packer in which the base price for the hog was determined by the seller-buyer interaction and agreement on delivery day,” said Kramer. “Those hogs must be delivered to the packer no more than 14 days after the date in which the hogs are committed to the packer.”
Kramer adds those wishing to apply for the assistance can do so at their local county FSA office.
“Producers are going to want to contact their local county offices to apply for this assistance,” said Kramer. “With that, we are gathering additional details from our national offices to provide to those county offices. There’s a few questions that we are still working on getting final answers to and hope to have those by the first of the year, in order for the county offices to start approving those applications.”
Reports say the program currently has $50 million in funding and producers are capped at receiving reimbursement for up to 10,000 hogs.
