The CFAP 2 program is winding down on December 11 but participation by farmers has exceeded the CFAP 1. As of December 5, nearly 760,000 applications were approved nationwide with $11.6 billion paid out. USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey says they are pleased with the response and expect additional payments to go out before the cutoff.

He attributes the higher interest in the second CFAP program to the way payment calculations were made and the broadening of commodities covered.

Northey says they also used known data from USDA agencies to make the payments which allowed farmers to easily sign up, even during harvest.

To date the largest payout under CFAP 2 has been $3.1 billion for corn losses, followed by $2.5 billion in cattle payments. Northey says both CFAP programs were critical in keeping farmers and the markets afloat during the pandemic.