Digital Option Available for CFAP Applications

To date, just $113 million of the nearly $4.9 billion in funding through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) has been distributed to the specialty crop industry, only 2.3% of the total allocations.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency announced that it will now accept applications for CFAP through an online portal, expanding the options available to producers to apply for this program, which helps offset price declines and additional marketing costs because of the coronavirus pandemic.

FSA is also leveraging commercial document storage and e-signature solutions to enable producers to work with local service center staff to complete their applications from home.

Through the portal, producers with secure USDA login credentials – known as eAuthentication – can certify eligible commodities online, digitally sign applications and submit directly to the local USDA Service Center.

Producers who do not have an eAuthentication account can learn more and begin the enrollment process at farmers.gov/sign-in. Currently, the digital application is only available to sole proprietors or single-member business entities.

USDA has several other options for producers to complete and submit their CFAP applications. These include:

• Downloading the AD-3114 application form from farmers.gov/cfap and manually completing the form to submit to the local USDA Service Center by mail, electronically or by hand delivery to an office drop box. In some limited cases, the office may be open for in-person business by appointment. Visit farmers.gov/coronavirus/service-center-status to check the status of your local office.
• Completing the application form using USDA’s CFAP Application Generator and Payment Calculator found at farmers.gov/cfap. This Excel workbook allows customers to input information specific to their operation to determine estimated payments and populate the application form, which can be printed, and then signed and submitted to their local USDA Service Center.

Getting Help from FSA

New customers seeking one-on-one support with the CFAP application process can call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee. This is a recommended first step before a producer engages the team at the FSA county office at their local USDA Service Center.

More Information

To find the latest information on CFAP, visit farmers.gov/cfap or call 877-508-8364.