While Congress approved another round of aid to U.S. farmers via what is expected to be the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 3 (CFAP 3) effort, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in a report at least raises the question as to whether such payments are needed.
The report, released December 21, raised the issue of whether most producers need another round of coronavirus relief aid. It noted that most major crop and livestock commodities “have seen their prices increase substantially” since July because of improving market conditions, with the exceptions of beef cattle and dairy.
“If current market conditions were to persist into the first half of 2021, it would appear that price declines would be a possible reason for a new round of CFAP payments for livestock and dairy, but not for row crops,” the report said.
While prices for several commodities have improved and continue to have potential for additional increases, U.S. farmers have burned through a considerable amount of capital in dealing with trade-related and COVID-related market impacts. That has left many U.S. farmers in more of a cash-flow bind. While the CFAP payments have helped, producers have not been made whole by those dollars.