Florida, California and Texas lawmakers have urged the Senate Agriculture Committee to increase funding for specialty crop research in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both California Democrats, John Cornyn, R-Texas, Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., signed the letter.
“As the Senate Agriculture Committee moves toward finalizing the 2018 farm bill, we request an increase in funding for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative in the upcoming farm bill,” the senators wrote in a June 4 letter to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
The senators said the Specialty Crop Research Initiative is currently authorized at $80 million annually, with $25 million in dedicated funding for citrus health research.
“Unfortunately, the program is already incredibly over-subscribed, with only 10% of the submitted projects submitted receiving funding,” according to the letter.
Limited funding makes it difficult to get ahead of the issues facing the industry, the senators said.
“Apple and ornamental tree growers are looking for new tools to combat Spotted Lantern Fly, potato growers are in need of a cure for the zebra chip disease, and citrus growers have not yet found a cure for the devastating Huanglongbing (HLB) disease even as important progress to that end is being made,” according to the letter.
The senators said they look forward to working with the Senate Agriculture Committee to bring a bipartisan farm bill to the floor that supports “critical programs that are important for the continued success of specialty crops.”
