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Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the eligibility of aquaculture crops for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).

Producers of eligible aquaculture commodities can begin submitting CFAP applications the week of August 17.

Eligible commodities include:

• catfish,
• crawfish,
• largemouth bass and carp sold live as foodfish,
• hybrid striped bass,
• red drum,
• salmon,
• sturgeon,
• tilapia,
• trout,
• ornamental/tropical fish, and
• recreational sportfish.

CFAP Payments for Aquaculture

Aquaculture payments differ for eligible fish and crustaceans. CFAP payments will be calculated as outlined below.

Eligible Fish

CFAP payments for eligible aquaculture species, excluding crawfish, are the sum of:

1. the aquaculture species sold from January 15, 2020, through April 15, 2020, multiplied by the CARES Act payment rate; and
2. inventory of the aquaculture species that was not sold but was market size and available to be marketed between January 15, 2020, and April 15, 2020, multiplied by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) payment rate.

Crawfish

CFAP payments for crawfish are the sum of:

1. crawfish sales from January 15, 2020, through April 15, 2020, multiplied by the CARES Act payment rate; and
2. crawfish inventory that was not sold as of April 15, 2020, due to lack of market and will not be sold in calendar year 2020, multiplied by the CCC payment rate.

The following table lists eligible aquaculture commodities and payment rates for CFAP.

Applying for CFAP:
Producers, especially those who have not worked with FSA previously, are recommended to call 877-508-8364 to begin the application process. An FSA staff member can help producers start their application during the phone call.

On farmers.gov/cfap, producers can:

• Download the AD-3114 application form and manually complete the form to submit to their local USDA Service Center by mail, electronically or by hand delivery to their local office or office drop box.
• Complete the application form using the CFAP Application Generator and Payment Calculator. 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, then signed and submitted to their local USDA Service Center.
• If producers have login credentials known as eAuthentication, they can use the online CFAP Application Portal to certify eligible commodities online, digitally sign applications and submit directly to the local USDA Service Center.

All other eligibility forms, such as those related to adjusted gross income and payment information, can be downloaded from farmers.gov/cfap. For existing FSA customers, these documents are likely already on file.