Financial assistance available to eligible nursery/floriculture producers

Click here to download this letter with a sheet included for organizing your information needed to generate your application.

If you grow Nursery Crops defined as “decorative or nondecorative plants grown in a container or controlled environment for commercial sale” (CFAP 1 Handbook, 208A) and/or Floriculture defined as “cut flowers and cut greenery from annual and perennial flowering plants grown in a container or controlled environment for commercial sale” (CFAP 1 Handbook, 208A) you may be eligible for financial assistance. CFAP provides eligible nursery/floriculture producers financial assistance intended to help offset market price declines and increased marketing costs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Producers of nursery and floriculture commodities are eligible for the following categories:

delivered and unpaid: nursery or floriculture commodities that were shipped but subsequently spoiled or unpaid due to loss of marketing channels between January 15, 2020, and April 15, 2020, due to COVID-19 (using CARES Act funds)
not delivered: nursery or floriculture commodities that had shipments that did not leave the farm or inventory that was never sold due to a complete loss of marketing channels because of COVID-19 and was destroyed (using CCC funds).

Shipped product that was donated where no payment was received is also eligible under category 1.

In category 1, you must certify the wholesale dollar value of what was shipped and unpaid between January 15th, 2020 and April 15th, 2020. If you do not wholesale your flowers and or nursery stock, you can look up the recommended wholesale price and use that.

In Category 2, you must certify that wholesale value of what did not leave the farm or inventory that was never sold due to a complete loss of marketing channels because of COVID-19 and was destroyed as of April 15th, 2020. Again if you do not wholesale your flowers and or nursery stock, you can look up the recommended wholesale price and use that.

Payment rates are as follows:

for inventory that was shipped but subsequently spoiled or unpaid – 15.55 percent of the certified wholesale value (CARES Act)
for inventory that was never sold – 13.45 percent of the certified wholesale value (CCC).

Please contact USDA as soon as possible to get the eligibility forms and application needed. You can call in the information at (508) 829-4477 x2 or email it to Amanda Mills. The deadline for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program is September 11, 2020, but please try to provide the information by September 4, 2020.