ABC to Host Final Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Webinar

Earlier this year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to provide direct support to agricultural producers experiencing financial losses due to impacts to pricing and market supply chains from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Almonds, among other crops, are eligible for CFAP because the industry has shown it’s suffered a 5% or greater price decline due to COVID-19 and faces additional significant marketing costs as a result of lower demand, surplus production, disruptions to shipping patterns and the orderly marketing of commodities.

To assist almond growers in understanding the specifics of CFAP and how they can take advantage of the program, the Almond Board of California hosted two webinars along with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Almond Alliance of California, one on June 11 and the other on June 22.

Now, with the CFAP application deadline nearly a month away (August 29), ABC will join with FSA and the Almond Alliance to host a final webinar on July 30 to answer any remaining questions growers may have about how to apply for the program. The Almond Board strongly urges growers to not only participate in this last webinar but also to apply for this program for an opportunity to receive financial support in these difficult times.

Below is information on how to join the webinar, which may also be found in this shareable flyer. You may join via video or audio on either your desktop or mobile phone.

Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
(866) 629-0965 (United States)
Conference ID: 678 533 309#

The webinar will be recorded and available for viewing on the Almond Board’s YouTube channel – in the CA Almond Growers – Education playlist – should you be unable to attend. The Almond Board has also developed a factsheet that lists Frequently Asked Questions (and their answers) regarding CFAP, questions received from growers and handlers over the past few months.

According to the USDA CFAP Dashboard, as of July 20, payments to California almond growers totaled over $43 million. More information about the program may be found at www.farmers.gov/cfap.