Late Wednesday, the USDA announced that $2.3 billion in supplemental Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments will be temporarily frozen. The action was made in accordance with the White House memo, Regulatory Freeze Pending Review. The USDA informed local Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices to continue accepting applications during the evaluation period. The announcement did contain language stating that the Biden Administration and USDA did "intend to take additional steps to bring relief and support to all parts of food and agriculture during the coronavirus pandemic, including by ensuring producers have access to the capital, risk management tools, disaster assistance, and other federal resources.”
The freeze is primarily aimed at payments aimed at livestock and poultry contract growers and is not expected to affect the per acre payments for row crop farmers. The per acre payments for row crop farmers are expected to be distributed this spring.
More below:
https://www.agweb.com/news/business/taxes-and-finance/usda-freezes-23-billion-supplemental-cfap
https://www.agweb.com/news/policy/politics/sen-stabenow-supports-cfap-freeze-and-review