House Appropriations Committee Funds Specialty Crops Block Grant Program

News Date May 13, 2005

The House Appropriations Committee included seven million dollars for the specialty crops block grant program in the FY06 agricultural appropriations bill. The action was taken this week during the committee's markup of the bill. The block grant was authorized in the Specialty Crop Competitiveness Act which became law in 2004. It is designed to boost the nation's specialty crops industry through block grants to state departments of agriculture. The funding will be used to enhance the industry through technical assistance, research, promotion, education, nutrition and related initiatives. The next step for the appropriations bill is full consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives in early June.

"NASDA members are anxious to demonstrate our states' ability to effectively administer programs designed to help the specialty crop industry innovate," NASDA President and New York Agriculture Commissioner Nathan L. Rudgers said in response to the committee's action. "States have the unique ability to tailor programs to meet the specific interests and needs of our specialty crops industry. Many of us are already performing this good work through state programs, we appreciate the House action to fund, for the first time, landmark legislation passed last year." 

The Specialty Crop Competitiveness Act authorizes $54.5 million annually for five years to enhance the competitiveness, both domestically and internationally, of American fresh produce. Of that amount, $44.5 million is authorized for the block grant program. Other features of the act include research to improve produce quality; development of new crop protection tools; creation of pest management systems; quantification of the clean air benefits of produce crops; research on the impact of foreign pest and disease and effective solutions. The act was cosponsored by 122 members of Congress representing producers who grow more than 250 specialty crops ranging from lettuce in California to melons in Arizona to blueberries in Maine.

"The implementation of the Specialty Crop Competitiveness Act is a giant leap forward for the people who have dedicated their lives to providing the world's best quality fruits, nuts and vegetables," said Tom Nassif, president of the Western Growers. "It's a signal from Washington that policy makers understand the tremendous value of this sector of agriculture and will take the steps necessary to protect and foster this industry." Western Growers is an agricultural trade association whose 3,000 members grow, pack, and ship 90 percent of the fresh vegetables and nearly 70 percent of the fresh fruit and nuts grown in Arizona and California, about one-half of the nation's fresh produce. NASDA and the Western Growers work with other agricultural groups and organizations to promote specialty crops and the implementation of the 2004 law.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies is expected to mark up the Senate version of the FY06 agricultural appropriations bill sometime in June.