Dairy Food Assistance Program Signup Starts May 26

Edge Dairy Farmer
Cooperative and the Dairy Business Association are applauding the announcement made Tuesday by Agriculture
Secretary Sonny Perdue of details regarding direct financial help for farmers
hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to the plan, payments through the Coronavirus
Food Assistance Program will be capped at $250,000 per individual or legal
entity. Initially, the limits were described as $125,000 per commodity per
farmer with a total cap of $250,000 per farmer. Payments will be prorated, with
80 percent paid initially and the remainder at a later date as funds remain
available. 

Signup for the program begins May 26 and money will start moving as
soon as a week later. Edge and DBA are reviewing other details of the plan and
its likely impact on members. The sister organizations, which
represent dairy farms of all sizes and related businesses in the Midwest,
pushed for direct payments and called for no caps.