Ryan Talley Testifies Before Congress

Last week, our Vice President and Co-owner, Ryan Talley, testified before congress on behalf of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance. This alliance is a national collation of more than 200 organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants, and other products. The alliance was established to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crop agriculture and improve the health of Americans by broadening the scope of U.S. agricultural public policy. Here is a tidbit of what Ryan Talley had to say:

“Our products account for nearly half the farm gate value in the United States, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that fruits and vegetables should comprise at least half of American’s diet. Yet under current law, specialty crops receive a small fraction of their proportional share of farm bill resources. In fact, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the Horticulture title of the 2018 farm bill accounted for only one-half of one percent of its funding. The investments we’re proposing are modest when compared to programs for other commodities, but they could be transformative for our growers. When you invest more in specialty crops – which include nutrient dense fruits, vegetables, and tree nuts – you are also investing in the long-term health and security of the American people. All of us who work in agriculture know that food security is national security. Because specialty crops are different than other commodities, USDA has at times struggled to deliver direct economic assistance to our growers when the need has arisen, but that’s been changing in recent years. The Alliance is proposing targeted new investments and a suite of innovative tools to support the entire specialty crop industry, including: new funding for research and development, incentives for technologies to supplement and enhance human labor, technical assistance and resources to help our operations become more resilient to extreme weather, and common sense changes to crop insurance that would provide the majority of our growers with a functional safety net for the very first time. We are also proposing needed reforms to federal procurement rules that would increase the availability of the nutritious foods our growers produce and Americans should be consuming in greater quantities.”