Industry is recognized for the first time

By Barbara Wunder, FFVA communications manager

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Proving once again that teamwork is the only way to get the job done, the U.S. specialty crop industry scored a big victory when Congress passed a landmark farm bill that for the first time addresses the industry’s diverse needs. The bill accomplishes key goals without including the subsidy payments that producers of many other crops receive, and it was made possible by the teamwork of many in the specialty crop industry as well as key legislators who realize the importance of this crucial component of American agriculture.

“This bill reflects the tremendous contributions specialty crops make to U.S. agriculture and the health of all Americans,” said FFVA President Mike Stuart, who serves as a co-chair of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, a group of more than 120 organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products. The alliance has worked for almost three years to broaden the scope and efficiency of U.S. agricultural public policy by including these crops in the 2008 Farm Bill.
 

“It’s been a long and sometimes difficult process, but we are especially pleased that the House and Senate conferees were able to work out funding issues that had slowed the bill’s progress,” said Stuart. “We commend the leadership in both houses as well as members of the committees who worked so hard to bring this to a successful conclusion.”

School children in all 50 states will receive fruit and vegetable snacks as part of the new farm bill.

The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (H.R. 2419) passed in the House on May 14 by a 318-106 vote, and the Senate approved the bill 81-15 the following day. President Bush has threatened to veto the measure, but Congress is expected to override the veto.

The farm bill dedicates almost $3 billion to important nutrition, research, pest and disease, trade, conservation and block grant priorities.

Specialty crops – fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and other crops – account for nearly half of all cash crop receipts in the United States. Florida ranks second in the nation in production of fruits, vegetables and nuts.

The bill is poised to assist specialty crop producers by:

• Expanding the USDA Fruit & Vegetable Snack Program to all 50 states. This program develops lifelong healthy eating habits for children through consumption of fruits and vegetables.

• Establishing a specialty crop research initiative to develop and disseminate science-based tools to address the industry’s needs.

• Increasing funding for state-level specialty crop grants that focus on local, regional and statewide programs to enhance producers’ ability to compete in the marketplace and provide consumers with safe, abundant food.

• Enhancing critical trade assistance and market promotion tools that will grow international markets.

• Investing in prevention and mitigation programs and tools to combat invasive pest and diseases, which cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars per year.

• Facilitating producers’ access to and participation in conservation programs.

The new farm bill also includes funding for research into pests and diseases that plague growers of fruits and vegetables.

“Our industry does not receive direct payments, nor has it advocated for them in this farm bill,” Stuart said. “Rather, we have worked with Congress to provide the resources necessary for us to remain competitive and grow in a global marketplace.”

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING BECOMES MORE DO-ABLE

Another area the 2008 Farm Bill addresses is country of origin labeling (COOL) reform. While keeping the Sept. 30, 2008, deadline for mandatory compliance established in earlier legislation, it tones down some provisions many found burdensome.

Those less burdensome provisions include:

• Significantly reduced penalties for mistakes in labeling at point of purchase, including a "good faith" standard that reduces the liability for retailers unless shown to be disregarding or willfully violating the law.
  
• No new record-keeping. Normal records kept in the regular course of doing business are sufficient to comply with the law. This is an important relief from the original law that threatened an extreme cost burden on the total supply chain.
  
• A specific provision to allow labeling of a U.S. state, region or locality in which a product is produced to meet label standards as product of United States. Therefore, a descriptor such as "Minnesota Grown" or "Pride of New York" would be sufficient labeling to comply with the law. Produce suppliers and retailers across the industry strongly advocated for this change due to the many marketing programs and state/regional affiliations currently appearing in produce labeling.

LEGISLATORS’ SUPPORT APPRECIATED

Congressman Tim Mahoney was one of the Florida delegation supporting specialty crop measures in the farm bill.

Stuart commended members of Florida’s legislative delegation who voted for the bill. “We appreciate their support for a bill that will put more fruits and vegetables in schools, enhance our industry’s efforts to fight invasive pests and diseases, and help us to market our crops domestically and globally,” he said.

Representatives from Florida voting for the farm bill were Republicans Gus Bilirakis, Ginny Brown-Waite, Vern Buchanan, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, Adam Putnam and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; and Democrats Alan Boyd, Corrine Brown, Katherine Castor, Alcee Hastings, Ron Klein, Tim Mahoney, Kendrick Meek, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Robert Wexler. Senators Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson also voted for the measure.

"With the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act, our growers and farmers will see an increase in demand for their products, and we will finally be able to participate in programs critical for Everglades restoration,” Congressman Mahoney said in a statement. “This legislation also makes critical investments in biofuels beyond corn, putting Florida at the forefront of the biofuels industry." 

Opposing the bill were Republican representatives Tom Feeney, Ric Keller, John Mica, Jeff Miller, Cliff Stearns, David Weldon and Bill Young. Reps. Ander Crenshaw and Connie Mack, both Republicans, did not vote.