The proposed 2018 U.S. Department of Agriculture budget suggests the elimination of funding for the Market Access Program and the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
Those programs, along with others, are listed in the budget document under the heading “Duplicative, Ineffective, or Lower Priority Programs.”
The budget is unlikely to be approved as is, according to a statement by House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minn.
“By all accounts this budget is going nowhere on Capitol Hill, but it is still a statement of priorities and should be of concern to all rural Americans,” Peterson said in the statement. “Going down this path all but guarantees there will be no new farm bill.
“I’m hopeful we can get past this ideology and make reasonable reforms as part of future farm bill debate, but this is not a good place to start,” Peterson said.
MAP money, supplemented by funds from industry groups, helps promote dozens of fresh fruits and vegetables in export markets.
The program, at $173 million in 2017, is administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service. The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which announced in March that more than $60 million would be available to the industry, is under the purview of the Agricultural Marketing Service.
The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance issued a statement decrying the proposed changes.
“We are very disappointed to see the president’s budget, released yesterday, call for draconian cuts, or even total elimination of programs that are important to the specialty crop sector,” the alliance wrote. “Eliminating programs that are critical to developing domestic and international markets for specialty crops, such as the Specialty Crop Block Grant program and the Market Access Program, seems to indicate a fundamental misunderstanding of what policies are needed to help specialty crop providers create their own success.”
The alliance argues that the programs are sound investments and “will work vigorously with our industry partners to make sure the administration understands the challenges our industry faces so that we may work together to develop policies that help, not hurt, America’s specialty crop producers,” according to the statement.
The elimination of MAP funding is projected to save $1.8 billion over 10 years, and the elimination of the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program is projected to save $771 million over 10 years.
Awards through the specialty crop grant program last year included more than $22 million to the California Department of Food and Agriculture for 73 projects. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services received more than $3.8 million for 33 projects.
MAP commitments this year include:
$4.86 million to the Washington Apple Commission
$4.83 million to the National Potato Promotion Board
$3.12 million to the California Table Grape Commission
$2.89 million to Pear Bureau Northwest
$1.9 million to the Cranberry Marketing Committee
$1.76 million to the Washington State Fruit Commission
$1.14 million to Sunkist Growers
Other produce groups receiving funding include the U.S. Apple Export Council, California Cherry Marketing and Research Board, the California Cling Peach Growers Advisory Board, the California Pear Advisory Board, the California Fresh Fruit Association, the California Strawberry Commission, the Cherry Marketing Institute, the Florida Tomato Committee, the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council and the American Sweet Potato Marketing Institute.
Source: The Packer