Berks dairy farmers grateful for coronavirus aid as they rebound from pandemic

Jun. 15—Berks County has paid out $7.2 million in Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments to dairy producers, a USDA official said Thursday.

"What we're doing is issuing additional payments to producers who qualified for more than one payment limitation," said Rebecca Csutoras, farm programs chief for the USDA Farm Service Agency in Pennsylvania.

The USDA's Pennsylvania State Office is wrapping up loose ends to ensure all eligible farmers received their payments, Csutoras said.

In Berks County, 151 dairy producer applications for CFAP were filed, and 150 were approved, with an average processing time of six days, Csutoras said.

"I would hope we would have all our CFAP payments issued for CFAP2 soon — definitely within the summer period," said Csutoras, who urged farmers to call their FSA to get an update on their applications, especially if they applied online.

The Leesport Farm Service Agency office is accepting appointments and meeting with farmers in person. Reach them at 610-372-4655.

More aid to fill gaps

In late March, the USDA announced it was establishing new programs to help farmers impacted by COVID-19 market disruptions. The USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers has $6 billion in aid available and will reach a broader set of producers, such as small and medium sized producers and those who produce less traditional crops, according to usda.gov.

Pennsylvania ranks seventh nationally in total milk production with 490,000 cows producing 10.1 billion pounds of milk a year, according to American Dairy Association North East. There are 5,730 dairy farms in the state, down about 5% from a year ago. The majority — 99% — of Pennsylvania's dairy farms are family owned, with an average herd size of 86.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, demand for dairy products such as cheese, butter and ice cream had been increasing, while fluid milk consumption plunged. Milk prices were low, but in the face of COVID-19, demand crashed. The supply chain disruption forced milk dumping.

The CFAP payments issued to dairy farmers were not dependent on dumped milk.

"It's a compensation of general loss of market due to coronavirus," such as schools no longer needing milk for lunches amid shutdowns, Csutoras said.

Direct payments 'critical to survival'

Paul Hartman, who with his brothers manages Scattered Acres dairy farms in seven townships in Berks and Lancaster counties, was instructed by his processors to dump milk on March 31 and April 1.

Reached on Thursday to see how his dairy operations are faring, Hartman said Scattered Acres received "substantial" CFAP payments, plus assistance through the Payroll Protection Program (PPP).

"A large part of our income last year was government payments, which is sad," Hartman said, estimating that 40% of his dairies' income came from the USDA programs.

"We were really scared at the beginning (of the pandemic), but the government really stepped up," he said. "Our government leaders know that food is important. They threw a lot of money at farmers to keep us viable."

Also, the direct payments were received quickly, enabling Scattered Acres to pay bills and keep vendors happy, Hartman said.

"It was critical to our survival," he said.

Two milking employees became very ill with COVID-19, but have recovered and returned to work, he said.

"The vaccine was pretty popular on our farm," said Hartman, who has declined to get vaccinated himself, citing skepticism.

'Now people are coming back'

William and Lolly Lesher, fourth generation dairy farmers at Way-Har Farms in Upper Tulpehocken Township, did not apply for CFAP for their family dairy, Lolly said Friday.

Way-Har did receive PPP assistance, she said. The family's Way-Har Farm Market, in nearby Jefferson Township, is in its 51st year of operation and has 18 employees.

"COVID's kept us leery, but now people are coming back to see us," Lolly said about customers at their farm market, which specializes in hand-dipped ice cream and locally made baked goods.

The market is staying open until 9 p.m. for the summer, and they're rolling out a new soft-serve treat in six flavors, the Way-Har Whip.

Way-Har Farms had to rebuild a barn lost to roof collapse from heavy snow on Feb. 1. All of their cows are back, and settled in the new structure, which has better air flow and stands 15 feet taller than the previous barn, built in 1967.

"We had so many volunteers come and help us clean up," Lolly said, adding that neighboring farms housed their cows until the new barn was raised.

"We are always trying to reach a bigger audience with our healthy product," Lolly said, adding that s'mores is the new flavor joining their menu of 65 flavors.