By Clint Thompson
The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) is a collaborative effort of more than 200 specialty crop organizations looking out for the best interests of producers in the ongoing farm bill negotiations.
Tori Rumenik, director of commodity services and supply chain at the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association (FFVA), discussed the SCFBA’s role in ensuring the specialty crop sector has a voice in farm bill discussions.
“The specialty crop industry is unique to me. You’ve got a lot of concentration in California, the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast. But it’s hard to get a lot of political traction when you have so many different crops with so many different issues,” said Rumenik at the recent Citrus and Specialty Crop Expo event. “The Farm Bill Alliance is a way that we put all of us in a room together and say, specialty crops, 5% of that money, lets get our heads around what these big issues are and make sure we can get something done.”
SCFBA Background
The SCFBA is a national coalition of more than 200 specialty crop organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, nursery plants and other products. Specialty crop production includes fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, nursery and greenhouse commodities. In early 2023, the alliance released a set of key policy priorities as part of its farm bill recommendations.
The SCFBA’s top priorities revolve around the two issues that farmers are most concerned about every year – labor and trade.
“Mechanization and automation research money is huge; for our citrus growers, TAP, Tree Assistance Program updates. For our side, crop insurance updates. There’s a crop insurance advisory committee that we’re pushing for that would help create better crop insurance programs and put people in the driver’s seat that actually know the industry,” Rumenik said.