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R48625 — Specialty Crops: Selected Farm Bill Programs

Reports · published 2025-08-13 · v1 · Active · crsreports.congress.gov ↗

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Authors
Zachary T. Neuhofer
Report id
R48625
Summary

The U.S. specialty crop market consists of hundreds of different types of products. Each market has its own set of unique production and marketing conditions. Specialty crops are defined as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops (including floriculture)” (7 U.S.C. §1621). According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) 2022 Census of Agriculture, specialty crops were produced on approximately 240,000 farms and had a farm-level market value of $115 billion in annual agricultural products sold. USDA administers programs either directed toward or benefitting specialty crop production. USDA programs cover areas such as marketing and promotion, plant health, research, export promotion, risk management, commodity procurement, and nutrition. Several USDA specialty crop programs originally were authorized in the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (SCCA; P.L. 108-465). The horticulture title of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 farm bill; P.L. 110-246) featured specialty crop programs that were covered in SCCA. Specialty crops also benefit from programs in the research, trade, commodities, and crop insurance titles in the farm bill. These specialty crop programs were extended and reauthorized in the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 farm bill; P.L. 113-79) and Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill; P.L. 115-334). The 2018 farm bill currently is extended until September 30, 2025 (P.L. 118-158, Division D). Specialty crop programs in the farm bill include the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which is targeted toward marketing and promotion of specialty crops. Other farm bill programs include the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which provides grants that fund research and extension activities that affect specialty crops. The Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention Program provides support to conduct early plant pest and disease detection and surveillance. The farm bill also provides funding for export promotion programs such as Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops, which funds projects to address technical barriers to trade for specialty crops. Specialty Crop Market News is a program that disseminates publicly available price and market data on specialty crops. Specialty crops also receive support in other farm bill programs addressed in the 2014 and 2018 farm bills. These include nutrition assistance programs that support household food assistance through both grocery benefits and USDA food distribution. Other support includes federal crop insurance and disaster assistance programs, such as the Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program and the Tree Assistance Program. Additionally, specialty crops can benefit from export promotion programs, such as the Market Access Program. Legislation enacted in the 119th Congress would impact specialty crops. Specifically, P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 reconciliation law (sometimes referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), increases mandatory spending on many agricultural programs in the farm bill while reducing outlays for nutrition assistance programs. Some provisions in P.L. 119-21 will impact specialty crop programs, including Specialty Crop Block Grants, Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention, and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative. Additionally, P.L. 119-21 includes funding and specific provisions that affect specialty crops in federal crop insurance, disaster assistance, export promotion, and nutrition assistance. Some of the provisions adopted in P.L. 119-21 were considered in the farm bill deliberations of the 118th Congress (e.g., H.R. 8467 and S. 5335). Other measures proposed by Members in the 119th Congress would impact specialty crop trade, fruit and vegetable purchases in USDA programs, federal crop insurance, and specialty crop research. Some of these proposals seek to ban citrus imports from China (e.g., H.R. 2084/S. 1042). Other measures would include additional specialty crop varieties in nutrition programs such as the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (e.g., H.R. 1782/S. 813) and the Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (e.g., H.R. 2379/S. 1145). Still other proposals seek to create new policies for specialty crop varieties in federal crop insurance (e.g., H.R. 292, H.R. 1613/S. 741, S. 231) or provide funding for specialty crop research (e.g., H.R. 2084/S. 1042).

Bills cited (21)

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