Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance leaders say they are disappointed to see farmer assistance left out of U.S. House funding bills released this week.
“It’s not just the growers, it’s all the touch points in the community that will continue to struggle.”
Co-chair Cathy Burns with the International Fresh Produce Association tells Brownfield producers lack the economic support they need to withstand ongoing challenges.
“Any aid package for agriculture should have set aside no less than a third of those funds for specialty crop producers,” she says. “Specialty crops account for one-third of crop sales in the U.S., and we have the same harmful headwinds that the rest of agriculture is experiencing.”
She says $5 billion in relief would help alleviate some of the unprecedented economic challenges facing growers from labor, input costs, lost markets, and unfair competition from competitors combined.
“The current situation is very dire,” she stresses. “Our industry loves open markets, the market to drive ultimately the vitality and future. But in this case, we need aid given where especially crops certainly stand.”
Burns says USDA still hasn’t released any additional details on the $1 billion for specialty crops in the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program since it was first announced a month ago.
She says policymakers need to be doing everything they can to protect growers’ long-term viability and sustain U.S. food production.
