CFAP-2 Includes Potatoes Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. After being left out of the first round of assistance, round 2 of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program began two weeks ago with potato growers and other specialty crop growers now included.
Kam Quarles, CEO at the National Potato Council, says better late than never, but this is pretty good news …
QUARLES … “I think it really is. The initial CFAP, you’ll recall Bob, the potato industry was not included when they did the first roll out and we had to kind of deal ourselves into that process about six weeks later.”
Including the drastic reduction in the restaurant and food services trade, Quarles says growers have endured plenty of challenges so far this year …
QUARLES … “This new program, those hurdles are eliminated. I think it’s a very straight forward process. It’s got a lot of the elements that we were recommending months ago when they were kind of building the first program and so we think this one is going to work and just hope producers get out and sign up quickly for it.”
But, this round is more of a sales-based process and,
Quarles says that’s a good thing …
QUARLES … “Right, exactly. They’re, producers at the self-certification process, producers need to certify their 2019 calendar year gross sales for their farm.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on the new CFAP and while it’s not a perfect solution, it should help potato growers weather the pandemic storm.
