Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday announced the creation of a new Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops initiative that will provide $2 billion to assist specialty crop growers in maintaining a strong domestic supply and expanding market opportunities for their crops.

Vilsack said USDA is also creating the Commodity Storage Assistance Program, which will provide $140 million to help producers gain access to a packinghouse, grain elevator, or other facility necessary for the marketing of agricultural commodities. This program is designed for farmers nationwide due to disaster-related challenges, and USDA anticipates high signup rates in the Southeast due to the devastation caused by Hurricanes Debbie, Helene and Milton.

“The Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops and Commodity Storage Assistance programs will be important for producers in every corner of the United States, but they come at an especially critical time for southeastern farmers, who will face a difficult and long recovery after this season’s devastating hurricanes,” Vilsack said.

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These programs would complement the disaster assistance package the Biden-Harris administration has proposed to Congress, which included a request for resources for USDA’s Emergency Relief Program and Emergency Livestock Relief Program, in addition to nutrition assistance, and rural infrastructure support, USDA said. The ERP and ELRP provide support for disaster losses for row crop, specialty crop, and livestock producers.

Final details, including eligibility and payment rates, will be set forth in a Notice of Funding Availability for each program.

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The Marketing Assistance Program for Specialty Crops will expand markets for specialty farmers who typically have higher marketing costs related to the tenderness and perishability of fruits, vegetables, floriculture, nursery crops and herbs; specialized handling and transport equipment with temperature and humidity control; packaging; moving perishables to market quickly; and higher labor costs. USDA anticipates applications will open in December 2024.

USDA is creating the Commodity Storage Assistance Program to make available commercial storage facilities such as grain elevators and packinghouses necessary for the orderly marketing of commodities by producers experiencing reduced commercial storage access due to 2024 natural disasters. This program builds on the Emergency Grain Storage Assistance Program which helped producers respond to lost grain storage options after a series of tornadoes, derechos, and flooding in 2021 and 2022.

USDA is making $140 million in Commodity Credit Corporation funds available for this program for a wide range of commodities. Producers will have to show that natural disasters caused a loss in commercial storage or marketing. Applications are expected to be available in December 2024.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said in a news release, “Specialty crops represent almost half of the cash receipts in agriculture across our country, and it’s not easy to grow fruits and vegetables. Specialty crop producers across the country are struggling to stay competitive under pressure from rising labor costs, the climate crisis and international markets. Today’s announcement will provide much needed help to ensure that our specialty crop industry, from producers large and small, remains competitive well into the future.”

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance thanked USDA for “vital assistance.”

“The last four years have been turbulent for the specialty crop industry due to skyrocketing costs of production inputs, especially labor, as well as competition from imports with lower input costs,” SCFBA said in a news release. “This week’s USDA announcement is in direct response to these challenges that have roiled producers and is a step in the right direction. This vital assistance will help growers recover from some of this economic battering, and we are encouraged to see USDA recognizing the unique needs of the specialty crop industry and its role in American agriculture. While this new initiative is welcome news, we also encourage Congress to enact supplemental relief for growers devastated by the effects of natural disasters and continue to urge the passage of a bipartisan five-year farm bill that includes key, long-term investments for specialty crops. The status quo is not sustainable, and the comparatively modest investments we’ve requested for the farm bill would be transformational to the specialty crop industry.” 

SCFBA is a national coalition of more than 200 specialty crop organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products. SCFBA is co-chaired by Cathy Burns, CEO of the International Fresh Produce Association; Mike Joyner, president of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association; Dave Puglia, president and CEO of Western Growers; and Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council.

National Potato Council President Bob Mattive, a Colorado grower, said, “The U.S. specialty crop sector, including potatoes, has faced a series of unforeseen challenges over the last four years. Today’s USDA announcement recognizes these ongoing pressures and offers the opportunity for economic relief to impacted family farms. In making these farms eligible, USDA’s action also acknowledges the importance of the potato industry to the U.S. economy, including the more than 700,000 domestic workers supported throughout the potato supply chain. The relief offered today also highlights the need for the certainty offered by a fully reauthorized five-year farm bill, providing long-term investments in research, trade, pest and disease exclusion, crop insurance and other vital programs.”