Specialty Crops Get a Bigger Basket

The USDA is opening enrollment for a $1.625B Assistance for Specialty Crops Farmers program, which is $625M more than the earlier $1B expectation. That is not exactly “money growing on trees,” but for fruit, vegetable and nut growers, it is at least money growing near trees.

The wrinkle: Payments will be tiered from $25 to $650 per acre, based on eligible crop categories, with online enrollment starting June 1, Farm Service Agency office applications beginning June 8 and the window closing Aug. 7. The payments are meant to offset elevated input costs and market disruptions tied to foreign competitors. Those details become official today.

Not everyone is in the basket: Eligible crops include fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, while floriculture, nursery crops, herbs, hops and controlled-environment crops are generally left out, except mushrooms. Because apparently mushrooms get to be the fungi at the party. The program is still a bridge, not a full specialty crop safety net.

Why it matters: Specialty crop producers face labor, borrowing and import pressure without the same tidy safety-net math row crops get. This is relief, but not a rewrite of the rules.