The Congressional Specialty Crop Caucus, a bipartisan group of more than 100 members of Congress, sent a letter to the U.S. House and Senate Agriculture Committees on Dec. 18 calling for the immediate release of the $1 billion in USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance Program aid earmarked for specialty crop producers. The entire amount of the recently announced farm aid was $12 billion, with $11 billion going to row crops.
The effort was led by Specialty Crop Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Jim Costa, D-Calif.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Sanford Bishop, D-Ga.; and David Valadao, R-Calif.
Moments before the letter was sent, The Packer spoke with Rebeckah Freeman Adcock, vice president of U.S. government relations for the International Fresh Produce Association, about why the letter was necessary and what IFPA and Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance hope it will achieve.
“First and foremost, we are working with USDA to make the case for the $1 billion that is available for our use, but we know that’s not enough,” Adcock says. “Quite frankly, the $12 billion is not enough for agriculture in general, and USDA knows that, it’s just this is what they have.
“IFPA and others have done a big push on this letter with our grassroots and our member leaders to make sure that congressional offices understand how serious this is, especially for certain growers … If we’re not taking care of our core production on the North American continent, which is very much [specialty crops], things are going to begin showing up in very bad ways,” she adds.
Without adequate federal aid, what’s at stake for specialty crop producers?
“We’ve already seen bankruptcies,” Adcock says. “We’ve seen consolidations — and there’s multiple factors that contribute to that … but the bottom line is, many operations that are purely production are struggling, and they’re struggling for a variety of factors, labor being the biggest one.
“If you’re turning a profit or able to just manage escalating and inflationary costs for inputs and many other things, but you can still pull together a price that could make up for that, it makes sense,” she adds. “But when your labor costs have gone up 47% to 65% … and your profit margin was 10%, you’re done. You’re out. You’re upside down.”
SCFBA says specialty crops — including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, nursery, greenhouse, and floriculture products — generate more than $75 billion annually in U.S. agricultural cash receipts, account for more than one-third of all U.S. crop sales and support rural economies nationwide.
Yet, SCFBA says, under the current USDA farm aid framework, $11 billion is allocated to row crops while only $1 billion is reserved for specialty crops and other commodities, with key details on eligibility, payment formulas and timing still unresolved.
“After months of uncertainty, specialty crop growers urgently need clarity and meaningful relief, and we appreciate the Specialty Crop Caucus for elevating this issue and making clear that specialty crops must be included in any relief package for American agriculture,” the co-chairs of the SCFBA say in a news release. “Specialty crops are both an economic engine and the source of the most nutritious foods in the American diet, but current policies fail to reflect their importance to public health and food security.
“Specialty crop growers cannot afford further delay, and we urge congressional leadership and the administration to move immediately to deliver proportional, transparent, and timely relief that reflects the economic significance and unique cost structures of specialty crop agriculture,” say the SCFBA co-chairs.
What response does Adcock hope the letter receives?
“I think the response we will get is going to be an acknowledgement of what we’ve already started: to really hear from Congress, both House and Senate, that they know ag needs more, and they know specialty crops are as critical as the rest,” she says. “It’s building the case that’s already begun and just putting it on paper … to make sure that when we’re talking about additional aid — additional bridge opportunities to get agriculture through to a better day — we’re on the record saying specialty crops have to be a meaningful part of that.”
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