NASDA Board Approves Establishment Of Specialty Crop Task Force
News Date January 03, 2007
A NASDA Specialty Crop Task Force has been created to develop an effort to secure continued funding for the Specialty Crop Block Grant program and to work more closely with USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative on issues affecting specialty crops. California Secretary William Lyons will chair the task force.
Congress provided a total of $159 million for specialty crop production assistance as part of a $5.5 billion emergency farm assistance package approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in August 2001. It was the first time that funds from an emergency farm assistance bill had been distributed directly to the states in the form of a block grant for specialty crops.
The task force will analyze the results of the Specialty Crop Block Grant program in all 50 states and develop a plan to take the results to Congress and the administration. Information about the specialty crop grants can be found on the NASDA website.