Specialty crop producers have a month to apply for aid payments that will be distributed according to commodity-specific payment rates that will be announced later, the Agriculture Department announced Friday.
The department's Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers (ASCF) program is supposed to cover crops not included in the $11 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance program.
"These one-time bridge payments will help address market disruptions, elevated input costs, persistent inflation, and market losses from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impede exports," USDA's press release says. "Specialty crop producers have until March 13 to report 2025 acres to USDA’s Farm Service Agency."
Payments will be based on 2025 planted acreage according to rates that will be released at the end of March. Dozens of crops are eligible for payments. The press release contains the full list of eligible crops.
Specialty crop producers and some members of Congress have said the $1 billion allocated for specialty crops isn't enough for the sector. The money also will have to cover payments to sugar growers.
A coalition representing producers of vegetables, fruit and tree nuts had appealed to USDA to make payments based on declines in overall farm revenue rather than on market impacts commodity by commodity.
“Because each specialty crop can be different than the other, it is extremely difficult and costly for USDA to collect accurate data for all of them or design a workable system for compensating our growers in times of need,” the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance said in a letter to President Donald Trump in October.
The letter urged the administration to model the new program after the second version of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. “It was designed to compensate only those growers who could demonstrate a decline in revenue during a specified period of time and do so under penalty of perjury and subject to audit – just like every individual and business does each year when they file their tax returns with the IRS,” the letter said.
In a response to USDA's ASCF announcement, the special crop alliance said in a statement that it was "reviewing the details of today's announcement and will be reaching out to USDA for additional clarity."
The alliance is co-chaired by Cathy Burns of the International Fresh Produce Association, Dave Puglia of the Western Growers Association, Mike Joyner of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, and Kam Quarles of the National Potato Council.
The statement went on to reaffirm the alliance preference for the CFAP-2 approach.
“The hard truth is that even with today's announcement more help is needed, which is why we continue to urge Congress to provide not less than $5 billion in dedicated aid for the specialty crop sector. This support is critical to the continued sustainability of American agriculture and the communities specialty crop producers serve,” the statement said.
USDA said there will be no requirement in the ASCF program that growers have crop insurance.
"However, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) risk management tools to best protect against price risk and volatility in the future,” the release says.
The original version of this report has been updated with the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance's response.
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