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Specialty growers await clarity on USDA’s billion-dollar Farmer Bridge Assistance program

The executive director of the Illinois Specialty Growers Association says much is still unknown about the USDA’s billion-dollar Farmer Bridge Assistance program targeted for specialty producers.

Raghela Scavuzzo tells Brownfield, “Specialty crops are harder to do, which I think is why you’re seeing the delay in the information on it.”  She says, “We don’t have futures markets per se. We have truck markets, kind of.  You have import and export records, but specialty crops work and operate a little differently than row crop production.”

She says it remains unknown what specific crops would be eligible for assistance.

“The billion dollars is specialty crops and sugar.”  She says, “And so what percentage does that break down? The hope is that they do expand this to a robust amount of the industry so that multiple farms can access it.”

Scavuzzo says specialty growers of all sizes have been impacted by increasing input costs and a sluggish economy.  The USDA says timelines and details regarding the payments are still under development.

AUDIO: Raghela Scavuzzo – Illinois Specialty Growers Association