America’s specialty crop growers often face challenges that are unique to their segment of agriculture. John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says USDA has acknowledged these challenges through the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops program.
“It is a program designed specifically to help specialty crop growers deal with their rising input costs and volatile markets. USDA created this program in December 2024 and opened up an application period for specialty crop growers, specifically growers with commercially-marketable specialty crops, as defined in the program.”
Boatright says the funds can be used to address a variety of issues faced by specialty crop growers.
“When we talk about specialty crops, we’re talking primarily about fruit, vegetable, and nut crops. From rising labor costs to losing markets for a variety of different reasons to invasive pest and disease pressures, there are a lot of unpredictable factors involved in growing domestic fruit and vegetables in the United States.”
While the current enrollment period is closed, farmers who think they may fit the program requirements are encouraged to keep an eye out for future USDA announcements.
“The goal, hopefully, is to pay attention to USDA announcements to see whether or not they may open this back up. The hope is that growers will also growers will funnel up any issues, any feedback, good or bad, to improve upon the good work that they’ve already done.”