SPECIALTY CROP ALLIANCE APPLAUDS HOUSE COMMITTEE FARM BILL MARKUP

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA), a coalition of more than 100 groups representing the producers of fruits, vegetables and horticulture crops and co-chaired by FFVA President Mike Stuart, announced May 23 it applauds the House Agriculture Committee for commencing the markup process of the 2007 Farm Bill. The group said many of its priorities, including those for research, conservation, and renewable energy, have been incorporated into H.R. 1600, the EAT Healthy America Act of 2007.

SCFBA noted in a news release that “the Conservation Innovation Grants can be used effectively to encourage grower participation.” In addition, it said that “the creation of the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative will help encourage overall participation while specifically helping specialty crop growers carry out requirements for Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and food safety enhancements.”

The group said it was grateful that the subcommittee supported the inclusion of an amendment offered by Reps. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) and Jim Costa (D-Calif.) that altered limits in adjusted gross incomes, “which will increase the ability for many producers of high-value commodities to participate in conservation programs and encourages the development of voluntary sustainable practices.”

In addition, as part of the research title, the coalition said it applauds the inclusion of a provision that establishes a specialty crop research initiative for producers to improve efficiency and competitiveness and a provision that prioritizes current federal research activities for specialty crops.

Finally, the coalition said that it strongly supports the amendment offered by Rep. John Salazar (D-Col.) to clarify that specialty crop waste and residues are understood to qualify as agricultural cellulosic biomass.