House and Senate members writing the 2023 farm bill face pressure to do more to accommodate specialty crops, an array of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, nursery plants and flowers that account for less than 10 percent of acres in production.
The cause also has a powerful advocate in Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who is quick to note Michigan’s production of specialty crops ranging from apples to squash and who wants to expand the Agriculture Department services and programs available to the sector.
Stabenow and ranking member John Boozman, R-Ark., along with House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., and ranking member David Scott, D-Ga., are overseeing the effort to update the farm bill that expires Sept. 30.
