Coming closer

A staff member for Congressman Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif., said the EAT Healthy America Act - the specialty crop title to the farm bill - may be reintroduced sometime early next week. The bill was first introduced in September of last year, but expect some tweaks and adjustments based on input from the specialty crop farm bill alliance.

Cardoza will be one of six original co-sponsors; here are the rest:

John T. Salazar (D-CO)
Adam Putnam (R-FL)
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
Rick Larsen (D-WA)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)


Meanwhile, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance has released a news release about the Informa Economics study on planting flexibility provisions in the farm bill.
From the release:

The report, which looks at a wide range of states and specialty crop commodities, concludes that removing the planting restrictions would result in a realignment of market forces that have long influenced the total supply of specialty crops. That realignment would increase the supply of fruits and vegetables and result in a reduction of income to those growers in excess of $3 billion. “It is clear that a larger supply without a corresponding increase in demand will lead to dramatically lower prices—and a direct reduction in revenues of existing specialty crop producers,” stated John Keeling, Executive Vice President & CEO, National Potato Council and Co-Chair of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance.

According to the report, removing the planting restrictions will result in a shift of 1.03 million acres into production of specialty crops. This is a small shift in the more than 220 million acres of program crops but represents a 10% increase in total specialty crop acreage. The 15 states where the greatest expansion of acreage is expected alone account for about 88% of the new specialty crop acreage. Other Key observations include:

The biggest jump in acreage would occur in California, which already has a large, diverse specialty crop industry. More than 230,000 acres – mainly from cotton and rice – are likely to shift to specialty crops.
Idaho and Colorado would see the largest percentage increase in specialty crop acreage. Potatoes are likely to dominate the acreage shifts in Idaho, Washington and North Dakota.
Relatively little expansion of specialty crop acreage is expected in most Corn Belt states, reflecting the competitive dominance of program crops and limited existing specialty crop acreage and infrastructure.
Along with potatoes, crops that could increase 10 percent or more in acreage include peas, pears, sweet corn, apples, onions, cabbage, snap beans, berries, cherries, pumpkins, asparagus, cucumbers and squash.

For the full report, see this Web site: www.competitiveagriculture.org.