Today, Ranking Member Angie Craig applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture after it announced that an additional $650 million would be made available to support struggling specialty crop producers.

On December 18, 2024, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance sent a letter to the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate Agricultural Committees requesting additional economic assistance for specialty crop producers.

Bicameral Agriculture Democrats responded with a letter that same day to USDA and the Office of Management and Budget, conveying the need to make additional funding available to producers via the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) program.

“Farmers are hurting right now, and Washington needs to pay attention,” said Ranking Member Angie Craig. “Our job is to work together on a bipartisan basis to get results for American farmers. When bipartisanship stalls, House Democrats will continue to push for what’s right, and that’s exactly what we accomplished today. I’m proud that Agriculture Democrats and USDA were able to work together quickly to provide America’s specialty crop farmers the assistance they need right now.”