Specialty Crop Improvements
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. The House Ag Committee held a hearing this week on increasing demand and opportunities for homegrown U.S. products, both domestically and overseas.
Alexis Taylor, chief global policy officer for the International Fresh Produce Association, says specialty crop producers need more demand for their products and help stabilizing the industry against further challenges …
TAYLOR … “A strong specialty crop sector requires more than productive farms. It requires profitable markets, growing consumer demand, and the ability to compete. For growers, that means connecting American production with consumers at home and market opportunities abroad. In the short term, IFPA and the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance are calling on Congress to provide dedicated economic assistance of no less than $5 billion dollars for specialty crop growers, but the amount of assistance is only part of the equation. Program structure matters just as much. Assistance should be based on actual sales losses, not acreage.”
Taylor says there are several ways to help the specialty crop sector …
TAYLOR … “This committee took an important step in the Farm Bill to establish a framework for specialty crop assistance, but stronger language is needed to require this framework to be used. Beyond the immediate need, labor reform would provide critical long-term support for the sector. The H-2A program has not been meaningfully updated in decades, which is why IFPA strongly supports Chairman Thompson Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act.”
Taylor says Congress has additional tools at its disposal to increase domestic demand for specialty crops like strengthening federal nutrition programs.
