The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) this week joined agricultural organizations from across the U.S. in calling on Congress for immediate financial assistance for America’s farmers and ranchers. Led by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the letter highlighted record-high input costs and historically low market prices in recent years have caused farmers to face negative margins and nearly $100 billion in losses nationwide.
“These trends aren’t just statistics; they represent an economic crisis in rural America,” the group wrote in the letter.
Specific to specialty crops, the letter noted losses remain deep, stating, “In addition to continuing to pursue federal policies to increase long-term domestic demand for U.S agricultural commodities, we urge Congress to provide immediate economic support to fill in the gap of remaining losses for both field and specialty crop farmers. Additional support will stabilize the farm economy, protect rural communities and ensure a secure food supply. This support must be robust enough to fill in sector-wide gaps.”
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, under the current USDA Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, $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.