Rep. Salinas Leads 15 Colleagues in Urging USDA to Fairly Include Specialty Crops in Farm Aid Package
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Congresswoman Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led 15 of her colleagues in sending a letter to the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins expressing concern that their farm aid package fails to provide adequate support for specialty crops and other agriculture sectors.
The lawmakers expressed that any farm aid package must treat specialty crops with the same urgency, dignity, and commitment as row-crop producers. They continue to state that equitable assistance for all farmers and producers is essential to preserving the diversity, resilience, and sustainability of American agriculture.
Click here or see below for the full letter:
Dear Secretary Rollins,
We write to express our concerns that the Trump Administration’s recently announced farm aid package fails to provide adequate support for specialty crops and other sectors of the agricultural economy. While we recognize the need for the $11 billion dedicated to the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, the remaining $1 billion that may or may not go towards specialty crops, coupled with the lack of clarity surrounding eligibility, distribution, and timing, falls far short of the relief these farmers need. This level of uncertainty and the disproportionate allocation itself are unacceptable for an industry already under significant strain.
Over the past year, specialty crop producers have endured severe economic hardship. Many operations have faced supply-chain disruptions, rising input costs, labor shortages, and unstable market conditions. Specialty growers also continue to operate without the same depth of risk-management tools, crop-insurance coverage, and market-stabilization support available to other sectors, leaving many more vulnerable when markets shift or disasters strike. These challenges have been severely exacerbated by the instability and uncertainty created under the Trump Administration, whose irrational tariffs and erratic behavior have disrupted foreign markets and reduced revenues for specialty crop growers.
By setting aside only $1 billion for specialty crops and others excluded from FBA and failing to provide any level of clarity surrounding this funding, the Administration is effectively choosing winners and losers in the farm economy. USDA’s own data shows that specialty crop exports totaled $24.6 billion in FY23, almost 14% of our nation’s total agricultural exports. Reserving just $1 billion for specialty crops, in addition to other producers excluded from the FBA program, severely underestimates both need and the role that specialty crops and other sectors play in the nation’s food system.
Further, this farm aid package is particularly concerning given that its total pales in comparison to the Trump Administration’s bailout for Argentina, raising questions about why American producers are being asked to settle for far less relief than what has been provided foreign nations. Such an approach risks leaving specialty crop producers as an afterthought rather than recognizing them as a core component of a healthy, diverse U.S. food system.
Without meaningful support, specialty crop producers and others excluded from FBA will continue to face severe economic instability without an economic backstop. President Trump must also consider the long-term harm his tariffs are doing to the American agricultural economy. If he does not reverse course, farm aid will continue to be necessary for years to come, and as we have heard from farmers time and time again: they do not want bailouts, they want robust markets to sell their products.
As USDA works to implement this farm relief package, we respectfully request that you provide the following information and commitment as soon as possible:
A detailed breakdown of how the $1 billion will be allocated, including timelines, payment formulas or criteria, eligibility thresholds, and how funds will be distributed by crop types and sectors.
An explanation of what data USDA has collected, or plans to collect, to assess the economic losses for specialty crop producers, and how that data will inform disbursement decisions.
Clarification on whether payments for specialty crops will require acreage reporting or other administrative steps similar to the row-crop program and how these requirements would be communicated to farmers, as well as a transparent timetable for rolling out payments to specialty crop producers, and clear public guidance on application procedures, eligibility, and oversight to ensure equitable distribution.
A commitment to consider expanding funding for specialty crops beyond the initial $1 billion, given the breadth of losses, the number of crops and producers affected, and the long-term value of specialty crops to U.S. food security and rural economies.
As USDA continues working to implement this farm aid package, we urge you to treat specialty crop producers, and others excluded from FBA, with the same urgency, dignity, and commitment as row-crop producers included in FBA. Now is not the time to divide the agricultural economy, it is a time to recognize the critical role all of American agriculture plays for our country. Equitable assistance is not only fair, it is essential to preserving the diversity, resilience, and sustainability of American agriculture.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter, and we stand ready to work with you and our colleagues to ensure that specialty crop farmers and other sectors excluded from FBA receive the relief they deserve from this Administration’s harmful trade policies.
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