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For Immediate Release:
February 14, 2008

Delegation Urges Support for Specialty Crops in New Farm Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today the Idaho Delegation led a bipartisan, bicameral effort to urge Farm Bill conferees to support specialty crop funding in the Farm Bill, which is currently under negotiation.

The effort originated as a joint letter between Senators Larry Craig and Patty Murray (D-WA) in the U.S. Senate and Congressmen Mike Simpson and John Salazar (D-CO) in the House of Representatives. Congressman Bill Sali and Senator Mike Crapo, a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry who was instrumental in securing the programs currently in the bill, added their strong support to the letter.

In total, fifty-seven members of the House joined a third of the Senate in thanking leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees for including strong specialty crops provisions in both the House and Senate-passed versions of the Farm Bill, and stating strong support for maintaining these important programs through the conference process.

The letter stated in part:

"Specialty crops . . . are of great significance both to farmers working the land and consumers seeking healthy foods. Therefore we continue to believe very strongly that the Farm Bill should include mandatory funding for programs that support and enhance this important sector of American agriculture. . . We ask for your continued leadership and support of mandatory funding and retaining the highest funding levels for specialty crop programs."

Idaho is one of the nation's top producers of specialty crops, boasting production of cherries, blueberries, apples, onions, plums, grapes, snap beans, mint, a variety of seed, nursery and ornamental crops, and of course, famous Idaho potatoes.

The entire letter (PDF) is available.

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