IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 346 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that specialty crops 

are a vital part of agriculture in the United States, and that Congress 

should fund programs that support specialty crops. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2017 

Ms. DELBENE (for herself, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 

O’HALLERAN, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 

NEWHOUSE, and Mr. PANETTA) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

specialty crops are a vital part of agriculture in the 

United States, and that Congress should fund programs 

that support specialty crops. 

Whereas specialty crops are defined in section 3 of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (Public Law 

108–465; 7 U.S.C. 1621 note) as ‘‘fruits and vegetables, 

tree nuts, dried fruits, and horticulture and nursery crops 

(including floriculture)’’; 

Whereas producers in the United States grow more than 350 

types of fruit, vegetable, tree nut, flower, nursery, and 

other horticultural crops; 


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Whereas the yearly value of specialty crop production totals 

nearly $60,000,000,000, which accounts for about onefourth of all domestic crop value; 

Whereas sales of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables 

total nearly $100,000,000,000 annually; 

Whereas combined exports of specialty crops grown in the 

United States totaled about $14,000,000,000 as recently 

as 2013, which accounts for about 10 percent of all agricultural exports from the United States; 

Whereas approximately 245,000 farms in the United States 

grow a variety of specialty crops; 

Whereas all 50 States have specialty crop production, which 

is most highly concentrated in California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, North Dakota, and Michigan; 

Whereas the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–79) 

included unprecedented amounts of funding for vital and 

critical programs such as the Specialty Crop Block Grant 

Program, the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, and the 

National Clean Plant Network; 

Whereas, pursuant to section 7306 of the Agricultural Act of 

2014, the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, established 

under section 412 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 

7632), received mandatory funding for fiscal year 2018 

and subsequent fiscal years; 

Whereas mandatory funding for the National Clean Plant 

Network under section 420 of the Plant Protection Act 

(7 U.S.C. 7721) was increased by the Agricultural Act of 

2014; 

Whereas mandatory funding for the Specialty Crop Block 

Grant Program under section 420 of the Plant Protection 


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Act (7 U.S.C. 7721) was increased by the Agricultural 

Act of 2014; 

Whereas many important agriculture programs did not, however, receive mandatory funding under the Agricultural 

Act of 2014; 

Whereas it is paramount that Congress builds on the 

progress of the Agricultural Act of 2014 to provide funding for these programs in the next act authorizing agricultural programs for a fiscal year after fiscal year 2018, 

so as to provide certainty to producers across the United 

States; 

Whereas overall spending on specialty crops is a small percentage of all funding for crops, including mandatory and 

discretionary spending; 

Whereas producers of specialty crops are not eligible for 

many of the traditional support programs that benefit 

producers of other crops; 

Whereas programs that support specialty crops are generally 

available to all crops, while the opposite is true of specific 

commodity crops; 

Whereas fruits and vegetables like red raspberries, almonds, 

apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, beans, blueberries, 

citrus, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapes, macadamia 

nuts, nectarines, onions, papayas, peaches, pecans, peppers, plums, potatoes, pumpkins, sweet corn, certain tomatoes, walnuts, asparagus, beets, strawberries, broccoli, 

and carrots are just a few of the hundreds of specialty 

crops grown in the United States; 

Whereas specialty crops are a driving force in promoting a 

healthier country and are part of a healthy, balanced diet 

that can help consumers reach recommended dietary 


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goals, which call for half of plates to be fruits and vegetables; 

Whereas the number of farms producing fruits, berries, and 

tree nuts in the United States is steadily increasing; 

Whereas sales of fruits, berries, and tree nuts in the United 

States are steadily increasing; 

Whereas according to the most recent census data published 

by the Census of Agriculture in 2012, 106,000 farms 

produced fruits, tree nuts, and berries with a total value 

of $25,900,000,000, an increase of $7,300,000,000 in 5 

years; 

Whereas according to such Census, the value of sales for 

vegetables, potatoes and melons increased from 

$14,700,000,000 in 2007 to $16,900,000,000 in 2012; 

Whereas according to such Census, the value of nursery, 

greenhouse, and floriculture sales was $14,500,000,000 

in 2012; 

Whereas it is evident that specialty crops are an increasingly 

important part of agriculture in the United States; and 

Whereas specialty crops deserve their fair share of consideration and funding in agriculture generally, but especially 

in the annual appropriations process and the next act authorizing agricultural programs for a fiscal year after fiscal year 2018: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) specialty crops are a vital part of agri4 culture in the United States; and 


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1 (2) Congress should pass legislation funding 

2 programs that support specialty crops as a growing 

3 and important part of agriculture in the United 

4 States. 

Æ 


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