Ag News: CFAP Opens Up to More Crops
**As farmers and ranchers continue to struggle during this pandemic, the USDA announced last week it has made more crops and commodities eligible for relief under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
Farmers of 42 new fruit, vegetable and nut crops may now apply, along with producers of cut flowers and nursery crops, farmed fish and other products.
AND, USDA extended the application deadline from August 28th to September 11th.
**Certified organic cropland can command higher rents, something that can be overlooked when considering the value of owning, managing or transitioning to organic farmland.
That’s according to Mercaris, which last week issued the first whitepaper in its Mercoterra project, which investigates the impact of organic certification on land value.
According to data from a survey of organic farmers and landowners, organic land for row crops on average receives a 25% rent premium over conventional cropland.
**The trade deal is "fine" and China is "substantially" increasing purchases of American goods.
That’s according to the President’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow who tells agrimarketing.com, he’s dismissing concerns that rising tensions between the two countries might jeopardize the deal.
He says the trade deal offers hope the two countries can continue to work together.
In January, China promised to buy an additional $200 billion of U.S. goods and services over the 2017 level by the end of 2021.