It appears likely that debate over the 2023 Farm Bill will be conducted during a budget-constrained cycle, which means new initiatives and increased funding could be difficult to sell.

This was one of the takeaways from a“Farm Bill Virtual Town Hall held by the International Fresh Produce Association. A trio of experts — Jonathan Cordone of Cordone Consulting LLC, Kam Quarles of the National Potato Council and Dennis Nuxoll of Western Growers — dissected the Farm Bill itself, the renewal process and what new topics are expected to surface for the specialty crop sector over the next roughly 18 months of debate.

IFPA Chief Public Policy Officer Robert Guenther set the stage by reviewing the produce industry’s Farm Bill efforts over the past two decades. In fact, prior to the beginning of this century, fruit and vegetable producers, as a subset of the specialty crop industry, did not concern themselves with the decades-old Farm Bill. It was basically U.S. farm policy as it related to large program crops (wheat, cotton, corn, soybeans) with little concern, or funds, for producers of other commodities, except for some research dollars.

But in 2001-2, about 140 specialty crops associations and organizations came together to try to get a larger piece of the pie. In 2004, the Specialty Crop Competitiveness Act was passed. In 2006, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill alliance was established. And in 2008, the Farm Bill included funds specifically earmarked for specialty crops.

Guenther said the sector has done extremely well in increasing its funding since those early days. He noted that the five-year 2018 Farm Bill included almost $4 billion for specialty crops — a 10-fold increase since 2002. Of the $766 million allocated each year, the largest pot of $231 million is allocated to the Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program, which provides free fruits and vegetables to underprivileged kids in schools. That helps create fruit and vegetable producers for life and also adds a nice market for fresh produce. The Market Access Program, which helps promote sales of specialty crops around the globe, comes in second with $176 million in annual funding.

Cordone went through the 12 titles of the Farm Bill, which include such headings as Row Crops, Conservation, Trade and Nutrition.  The Nutrition title is by far the largest as it takes a majority of the total spending (79 percent). He described it as a “safety net for families.” It is the title that includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly referred to as food stamps. Specialty Crops do not have their own title with funding for the sector spread out under several different titles.

He also discussed the legislative process for the Farm Bill, which has the Agriculture Committees of both the House and Senate charged with working up the bill every five years. Cordone said Congress has always added a rider to each Farm Bill calling for reauthorization five years down the road. He called it a “fiscal cliff” that forces non-partisan action or farm policy will result to the provisions in place during the Great Depression. While there are legislators on each end of the political spectrum that typically rail against specific provisions, Cordone said it is usually a bi-partisan effort with broad support.

For the 2023 Farm Bill, he predicted that the process in the U.S. Senate will continue to be bi-partisan with little change regardless of which party wins the majority of that chamber in November. He would make no such prediction about the House of Representatives, indicating that the party in power will wield that superior position to exact changes fitting its agenda as it tries to bring a bill to conference committee with the Senate version. In 2018, he said it took the House several tries to come up with a compatible version.

Quarles of NPC further got into the process noting that it is the many titles in the bill that give it its broad support. The Nutrition title garners almost 80 percent of the budget, which he said, is designed to bring the many urban legislators aboard. Quarles noted that 62 percent of all House districts are urban with only 8 percent being totally rural. The other 30 percent are a rural-urban mix. It is the Nutrition title that includes the FFVP funding.

Under the Horticulture title resides the $85 million annual Specialty Crop Block Grant program, which is a favorite of the sector. Quarles said because each state has a different mix of specialty crops, this program allows for state control of the program to parcel out those funds where needed. He called it “an elegant idea” when it was devised two decades ago.

The Research title is another one very important to the fresh produce industry, as that is where funding comes for the land grant colleges as well as for many other forward-thinking projects.

In fact, Nuxoll, who was charged with predicting what new initiatives might surface as the 2023 Farm Bill is debated, said there will be extra effort to channel more funds toward mechanization research. Shortage of labor is a huge issue in agriculture and Nuxall said many expect the Farm Bill to be the vehicle in which to address this problem through automation research. Mechanization, of course, offers the promise of reducing the need for labor, and helping to alleviate the labor shortage issue.

The WG executive noted that virtually all specialty crop programs — from research funding to block grants — are over subscribed with many programs being rejected for each one given funding. He believes lack of funding is going to be an issue as this Farm Bill is debated. He said hemp producers, for example, are another group that want access to specialty crop funds but current recipients are expected to fight what could be an erosion of their funding.

Cordone added that there is no inflation escalator in the Farm Bill. Funding debates often start at the baseline that was granted during the previous round. Without a significant increase in dollars, it will be difficult to even keep up with rising costs, as the entire world is currently learning.

In the battle for more funding, Nuxoll observed that the specialty crop sector has a leg up over program crop advocates. Specialty crops are sold in high-visibility farmers’ market all over the country, giving them top-of-mind status to legislators and their constituents, which makes it a bit easier when making a case for increased funding in the sector. On the other hand, most program crops are used as ingredients. That’s not a visible use that engenders support from the relatively unaware urban constituents.

In further looking at sectors that will be fighting for more dollars in this round, Nuxoll pointed out that urban farming — often described as indoor vertical farms — did get a foothold in the 2018 Farm Bill. Those folks will be advocating for more funds this time around, following the path set by the specialty crop sector two decades ago. Nuxoll sees that as a positive for produce industry representatives, who might want to partner with that group because they are producing the same class of products. “They are in our environment,” he noted.

Another area where Nuxoll sees potential for increased funding is the food-safety arena, which is often top of mind for consumers. He noted that it creates a bit of a conundrum as the Food and Drug Administration regulates food safety, but that agency does not allocate funds for industry research. Food safety researchers, instead, need to tap into USDA funds.