NWGA Welcomes Assistance for All Classes of Wheat

Lincoln, NE – The Nebraska Wheat Growers Association (NWGA) applauds the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today, as they announced a second round of coronavirus relief payments which includes Hard Red Winter (HRW) and Hard White (HW). The new $14 billion package now covers producers of all classes of wheat. These add to the durum and hard red spring (HRS) wheat classes which were covered under the first round of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP).
Originally, the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) provided important assistance for only hard red spring and durum wheat farmers, which counted for 30 percent of 2019 production. Now, all of America’s wheat farmers, who qualify, are eligible to receive assistance through CFAP on 2020 production. Throughout the summer the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) has met with senior USDA officials and sent letters requesting expansion of the program, and earlier this month 21 U.S. Senators and 26 Members of Congress also sent letters requesting this assistance.
“NAWG has fought hard to get all classes of wheat included since CFAP was originally announced,” said Brian Schafer, NWGA President. “Hard Red Winter wheat is our number one wheat crop produced in the state and it wasn’t considered an eligible commodity during the first round of CFAP. Farmers have seen a significant drop in price due to the coronavirus and to receive some relief with CFAP2 is greatly welcomed.”