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U.S. specialty crop industry at risk as growers face rising costs, inadequate insurance options

An economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation says specialty crop growers can no longer absorb soaring production costs with limited risk protection.

Danny Munch tells Brownfield, “Since 2020, for instance, pesticide costs are up 25 percent, fuels and oils up 32 percent, fertilizer up 37 percent, and cash labor, which makes up a substantial portion, up to 40 to 50 percent of specialty crop production, that’s up 50 percent.”

Munch says labor costs for specialty crop growers are more than 660 times greater than the average U.S. farmer, and prices they’re paid have not kept pace with increases.

“What happens when you have to push that supply to other countries?” he asks. “You no longer have a reliable source in the United States, and it puts our ability to get those crops and healthy food items at the whims of whatever geopolitics other countries have. We don’t want to see that.”

He says risk management tools are also difficult for growers because of the wide diversity and regionality of their crops.

“There are more and more programs being built in, but they’re usually very targeted risk management programs,” he shares. “For instance, it’s fall season, pumpkins. The only available RMA program for pumpkins is for processing pumpkins, which is really isolated in Illinois.”

Farm Bureau estimates 43 percent of fruit and nut acreage and 47 percent of vegetable and melon acres in the U.S. are uninsured.

He says Farm Bureau supports economic bridge payments for all growers and long-term policy improvements for labor, market access, and risk protection to help sustain U.S. ag production.