WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that crawfish will be covered under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Farmers can apply for relief funds at farmers.gov/cfap.
“Coronavirus shutdowns and mandated restaurant closures hit Louisiana’s crawfish industry especially hard. We’ve battled for months to include crawfish under USDA relief funding, and today that mission was successful. This announcement delivers much-needed relief for Louisiana’s crawfish farmers and helps support the state’s larger economic recovery efforts.”
More information on how to apply is available here.
Congressman Higgins has worked closely with USDA to secure relief funds for Louisiana crawfish farmers:
- Mid-March 2020 – Congressman Higgins began coordinating with Louisiana Farm Bureau and the Louisiana delegation to mitigate coronavirus-related impacts on farmers and ranchers in the state.
- March 27, 2020 – Congressman Higgins voted for the CARES Act, which authorized USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to provide up to $16 billion in relief for America’s farmers and ranchers.
- April 8, 2020 – Congressman Higgins and Congressman Ralph Abraham led a Louisiana delegation letter requesting that USDA provide emergency funding for the crawfish industry.
- May 19, 2020 – USDA launched CFAP without crawfish listed as an eligible commodity.
- June 1, 2020 – Congressman Higgins sent a follow-up letter to USDA requesting support for the crawfish industry in the second round of CFAP funding.
- June 23, 2020 – Congressman Higgins hosted a rice and crawfish roundtable in Acadia Parish to update farmers on the status of CFAP relief and hear their concerns.
- July 6, 2020 – USDA released an additional list of commodities and updated guidance. However, no aquaculture was included in this round.
- July 6, 2020 – Congressman Higgins and the Louisiana delegation sent another letter to USDA, stressing the urgent need to include crawfish under CFAP relief.
- July 29, 2020 – USDA responded to Congressman Higgins’ letter, acknowledging the situation with Louisiana’s crawfish industry and indicating that further crop additions would be forthcoming.
- August 11, 2020 – USDA announced that crawfish is now an eligible commodity under CFAP relief.
