An ag economist says USDA underestimated the economic need from producers of some commodities, while others have yet to claim their allotted funds through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
John Newton, Chief Economist for American Farm Bureau tells Brownfield as of August 3rd, sheep producers had received 140% of their estimated CFAP funds.
“USDA probably had a pretty conservative estimate on what CFAP support would go out to those producers and it turns out based on the payment data there are more producers impacted than I think USDA initially estimated.”
On the other hand, Newton says some commodities have used less than USDA expected so far with less than a month left to apply.
