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Crop Insurance and Disaster Assistance
Market Access Program
Marketing Orders
Research and Promotion
Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
Federal price and income support programs do not directly cover
fruit and tree nuts. Some outlays, however, stem from a variety
of general, non-crop-specific programs, including:
- Federal production assistance programs such as Federal crop
insurance, the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, and
western irrigation subsidies;
- Export programs, such as the Market Access Program (MAP), include
several fruit and tree nuts;
- Federal food purchase programs, such as the School Lunch Program,
also include fruit and tree nuts;
- Federal Marketing Orders; and
- Federally sanctioned national research and promotion program
in place for cultivated blueberries, Hass avocados, and mangoes.
  
Crop Insurance and Disaster Assistance
Commercial fruit and tree nut growers always face production or yield risk, mostly associated with adverse weather, and Federal assistance is provided through ad hoc (or emergency) Federal disaster assistance and Federal crop insurance. USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) provides crop insurance policies for numerous crops, including a growing number of fruit and tree nut crops. Federal crop insurance is obtained prior to the growing season and provides an indemnity payment if the farmer's actual yield falls below a predetermined guarantee. The policies are acquired through private insurance companies. Although crop insurance is not free to farmers, the Government subsidizes a significant portion of the cost.
RMA also has pilot programs in selected counties for newly developed insurance programs. Most operate for 2 to 3 years before conversion to permanent status. Pilot programs currently in place for fruit include: California avocados, Florida avocados, cherries, California citrus, Florida fruit trees, Hawaii tropical fruit, and Hawaii tropical trees.
USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). Fruit and tree nut growers who do not purchase crop insurance or do not have established Federal crop insurance programs for their crops are eligible for Federal financial assistance under this program when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occurs as a result of natural disasters. FSA also operates other disaster assistance programs—Emergency Conservation, Disaster Debt Set-Aside, and Emergency Farm Loans—designed to aid farmers who are affected by drought, flood, freeze, tornadoes, and other natural calamities (for more information, see Ongoing Disaster Assistance Programs for Agricultural Producers).
Moreover, during years when there is an extensive crop loss, producers of insured crops (covered by a crop insurance plan or NAP) may be eligible for the new Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance, which consists of five disaster assistance programs, including the Orchard and Nursery Tree Assistance Program.
Market Access Program
The Market Access Program (MAP), administered by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, uses funds from USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation to help U.S. producers, exporters, private companies, and other trade organizations finance activities such as consumer promotions, market research, technical assistance, and trade servicing for agricultural products.
For fiscal year 2008, approximately $60 million of MAP funds were directly allocated to the U.S. fruit and tree nuts industry, about 30 percent of the $200-million program total. Additional allocations made to State Departments of Agriculture, as well as to other industry or trade associations, will also likely benefit the fruit and tree nut industry.
Marketing Orders
Marketing orders, administered by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), are designed to collectively solve instability within fruit and vegetable markets. That goal is accomplished by enforcing product quality standards, regulating the flow of product to the market, standardizing packages and containers, creating reserve pools for storable commodities, and authorizing production and marketing research and advertising. Industries participate voluntarily and agree to Federal oversight over certain aspects of their operations.
Once established, a marketing order becomes binding on all individuals or businesses serving as "handlers" in a geographic area covered by the order. Imports may be directly affected by these marketing orders. Under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, Section 8e, imports of commodities for which domestic marketing orders are in effect are required to comply with the same or comparable regulations on grade, size, quality, or maturity issued in the marketing order.
For example, the only Federal marketing order in force for avocados covers fruit produced in South Florida between June and March. It authorizes grade, size, quality, maturity, container, and pack requirements and authorizes regulations on size, capacity, and weight of the containers used in shipping. Minimum grade, size, and maturity also are applied to imported avocados. See the AMS list of Federal Marketing Orders for the orders currently in effect.
Research and Promotion
Federally sanctioned research and promotion programs are self-help programs, requested and funded by the industry groups that they serve. The goal of these programs is to expand, maintain, and develop markets for individual agricultural commodities in the United States and abroad. The Secretary of Agriculture appoints national program boards composed of producers, handlers, importers, and processors (depending on which industry members pay assessments to fund the programs), as well as public members. The boards conduct promotion, market research, production research, and new product development under the supervision of AMS. See the AMS web pages on cultivated blueberries, Hass avocados, and mangoes for more information on these current programs.
Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008
For the first time in farm legislation history, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 included a title concerning specific issues related to the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry (Title X: Horticulture and Organic Agriculture). Some of the new program provisions in the title focus on the well-being of the fruit and vegetable industry. Programs for Pest and Disease Management include a National Clean Plant Network and a Pest and Disease Revolving Loan Fund. Another program, the Food Safety Education Initiative, is meant to educate people involved in the various produce industries and the general public about sanitary handling practices and ways of reducing pathogens in fresh produce.
In the Nutrition Title of the 2008 Farm Act, there are several provisions for fruit and vegetables, including purchase for domestic feeding programs such as the National School Lunch program and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, formerly a pilot program, whose goal is to provide fruit and vegetables to elementary schools where at least half the students receive free or reduced-price school meals.
The Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 established block grants, subject to annual appropriations in fiscal years 2005-09, to assists State departments of agriculture in enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. specialty crops. The 2008 Farm Act reauthorized and extended this Specialty Crop Block Grant Program through fiscal year 2012.
The 2008 Farm Act also reauthorized the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) Program, first enacted into law by Section 3205 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. This program funds projects that assist U.S. exporters address sanitary, phytosanitary, and technical barriers that prohibit or threaten exports of U.S. specialty crops. Funding is made through USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation. Eligible crops under this program include all U.S. cultivated plants (and their products), excluding wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar, and tobacco.
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