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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 237 (Tuesday, December 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 99212-99220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-29017]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation Farm Service Agency

[Docket ID FSA-2024-0011]

Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA); Marketing Assistance for 
Specialty Crops

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notification of funds availability.

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SUMMARY: The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is announcing the availability 
of Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC), which will provide 
eligible specialty crop producers with marketing assistance payments 
that will help them engage in activities that aid in expanding domestic 
specialty crop markets or in developing new markets for their specialty 
crops.

DATES: 
    Applications Due Date: We will accept applications from December 
10, 2024, through January 8, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathy Sayers; telephone: (202) 720-
6870; email: [email protected]. Individuals with disabilities who 
require alternative means for communication should contact the USDA 
Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and text telephone (TTY)) or 
dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Service (both voice and text 
telephone users can initiate this call from any telephone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Specialty crop growers have typically faced higher marketing costs 
relative to non-specialty crop producers due to the tenderness and 
perishability of fruits, vegetables, floriculture, nursery crops, and 
herbs. They must invest in specialized handling and transport equipment 
that control for temperature and humidity, invest in packaging 
equipment and materials that prevent damage to commodities, and 
confront the need to get perishable products to market quickly. They 
also face labor costs that are nearly 45 percent of total variable \1\ 
costs--far higher than the 9 percent average across all the 
agricultural sector.\2\ Labor costs have increased steadily in recent 
years and input costs, in general, remain elevated in comparison with 
pre-pandemic levels.\3\
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    \1\ Variable costs are out-of-pocket expenses that change in 
proportion to how much of a commodity is produced.
    \2\ USDA, Economic Research Service. 2022 Agricultural Resource 
Management Survey (ARMS) data.
    \3\ Coppess, Jonathan. ``Measuring Farm Policy, Part 4: Basic 
Input Costs and Payments.'' farmdoc daily (14):66. April 4, 2024. 
https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2024/04/measuring-farm-policy-part-4-basic-input-costs-and-payments.html.

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[[Page 99213]]

    Specialty crop operations have limited ability to pass along these 
high labor, input (seed, fertilizer, pesticide), and marketing costs to 
retailers or consumers given global competition for markets. Further, 
cash receipts for fruits and nuts--which reflect the income from sales 
of those specialty crops to purchasers--are down. For example, fruit 
and nut cash receipts \4\ in calendar year 2024 are 25 percent below 
the previous inflation-adjusted 10-year average--a greater reduction 
over that 10-year period than for any commodity grouping other than 
tobacco. In contrast, for crops overall (including corn, soybeans, 
etc.), cash receipts in 2024 are forecast up 10 percent relative to the 
10-year inflation-adjusted average.\5\
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    \4\ Cash receipts reflect the gross income from the sale of a 
commodity during a given calendar year. U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2024, September 5). ``Farm 
Income and Wealth Statistics.''
    \5\ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. 
(2024, September 5). ``Farm Income and Wealth Statistics.''
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    High costs--combined with lower cash receipts--have, in many cases, 
reduced net cash farm income (NCFI),\6\ especially among operations 
that do not have the ability to take advantage of economies of scale. 
Data from a USDA survey of farm operators shows NCFI for specialty crop 
growers in 2022 was 11 percent below the average for the previous 10 
years, and 4.6 percent below 2021 reported levels. For small-scale 
growers (those with less than $100,000 in NCFI and the least able to 
take advantage of economies of scale), the situation is even more dire: 
NCFI has been negative for 3 of the 5 years between 2018 and 2022.\7\
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    \6\ NCFI is defined as cash receipts from farming as well as 
cash farm-related income (including Federal Government payments) 
minus cash expenses.
    \7\ Economic Research Service and National Agricultural 
Statistics Service, Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), 
``Tailored reports: Farm Structure and Finance'' data product 
available at https://my.data.ers.usda.gov/arms/tailored-reports.
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    Specialty crops are important from an economic perspective to many 
states, as illustrated by the 2022 Census of Agriculture.\8\ For 127 
counties (or county equivalents), specialty crop farms accounted for 
more than 40 percent of all farms within the county. Most of these 
counties are in states along the west and east coasts (including Alaska 
and Hawaii) and in or near metropolitan areas. Half of the counties 
with the highest concentration of farms primarily engaged in growing 
specialty crops were in California, New York, Florida, and New 
Jersey.\9\ Specialty crops form the backbone of the agriculture sector 
in such states and, as a result, maintaining grower viability is 
important for those states' economies.
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    \8\ The information in this paragraph is from USDA, National 
Agricultural Statistics Service. ``2022 Census of Agriculture: Most 
U.S. Counties with High Concentration of Specialty Crop Farms are 
Located along Coasts.'' https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/
chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/
?chartId=109079#:~:text=Half%20of%20the%20counties%20with,farm%20grow
ing%20primarily%20specialty%20crops.
    \9\ In California, 8 of the top 10 commodities for cash receipts 
are specialty crops. In Florida and New Jersey, 5 of the top 10 
commodities in terms of cash receipts are specialty crops. For New 
York, 2 of the top 10 commodities in terms of cash receipts are 
specialty crops. See the USDA, Economic Research Service Farm Income 
and Wealth Statistics, Cash Receipts by State: https://data.ers.usda.gov/reports.aspx?ID=17843#Pc9e3d09f30b1439aa5787fc201b399ae_5_17iT0R0x22.

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    Expanding domestic markets and increasing U.S. consumption of 
fruits and vegetables to improve diets is also a critical impetus for 
providing assistance under MASC. Fruits and vegetables supply energy, 
nutrients, and fiber--all of which contribute to greater health. A diet 
rich in vegetables and fruits can lower blood pressure, reduce the risk 
of heart disease and stroke, prevent some types of cancer, lower risk 
of eye and digestive problems, and have a positive effect upon blood 
sugar.\10\ While Americans are consuming more fruits and vegetables 
than in 1970, the average U.S. diet still falls short of the 
recommendations in the ``2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans '' 
\11\ for these major food groups. Fruit and vegetable per capita 
consumption are at only 40 percent and 70 percent, respectively, of the 
recommendation levels found in the Dietary Guidelines. Increasing the 
domestic consumption of specialty crops benefits consumers and can 
expand U.S. specialty crop markets. MASC payments are being provided in 
order to expand existing markets and develop new markets. As a result 
of such market expansion, specialty crop consumption is expected to 
increase. With greater consumption, and a greater focus on healthy 
eating, sector profitability is also expected to improve over the long 
term.
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    \10\ Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. ``The Nutrition 
Source: Vegetables and Fruits.'' Accessed October 9, 2024. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/what-should-you-eat/vegetables-and-fruits/.
    \11\ U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services. ``Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-
2025.'' https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf.
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    Other factors complicate the viability of the sector further, as 
noted in an October 2024 Congressional Research Service (CRS) 
report.\12\ Specifically, pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and 
higher input costs have contributed to increased market volatility 
since 2020. Further, the increase in disaster events has exacerbated 
uncertainty and the likelihood that disruptions affect farm losses, and 
potentially consumer access to specialty crops. Small-scale specialty 
crop growers (those with less than $100,000 in sales per year) are less 
able to take advantage of economies of scale than larger growers, and 
small-scale growers often have the greatest marketing and related 
challenges (such as outreach, advertising, and the need for 
refrigerated trucks).
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    \12\ Johnson, Renee. ``Marketing and Pricing in the U.S. Fruit 
and Vegetable Industry.'' Congressional Research Service. October 4, 
2024. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R48213.
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    In response to these economic and health-based factors, USDA will 
use section 5(e) of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act 
(7 U.S.C. 714c(e)) to make payments to eligible producers in order to 
increase consumption of specialty crops by aiding expansion of domestic 
markets or aiding in the development of new and additional markets. 
Without intervention to support producers' activities to expand 
domestic markets and develop new and additional markets for their 
specialty crops in calendar year 2025, high marketing costs and 
challenges may be a barrier to such expansion and development in 2025, 
which may result in the exit of many operations, reducing domestic 
availability of fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops, to the 
detriment of many local economies. Further, assistance to this sector 
will create additional market opportunities, including those for local 
foods, such as setting up farmer's markets near the geographic area of 
production.
    FSA will administer MASC on behalf of CCC. MASC payments will 
provide eligible specialty crop producers with marketing assistance 
that gives them the ability to engage in activities that aid in 
expanding domestic specialty crop markets or in developing new markets 
for their crops, such as outreach, marketing, and investing in 
packaging, storage, and transportation equipment and supplies that are 
necessary to protect perishable specialty crops. MASC will use up to $2 
billion \13\ in CCC funding to provide assistance to producers of 
specialty crops, subject to a payment limitation of $125,000. MASC 
payments are based on a

[[Page 99214]]

producer's sales of specialty crops, as described below, and 
adjustments will be made to ensure that payments do not exceed the 
available funding.
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    \13\ Funding of $1,886,000,000 is available for MASC after 
sequestration of 5.7 percent. Individual MASC payments will not be 
subject to further sequestration.
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Definitions

    The following definitions apply to this notice:
    Average adjusted gross farm income means the average of the person 
or legal entity's adjusted gross income (AGI) derived from farming, 
ranching, and forestry operations, including losses, for the base 
period consisting of the 2021, 2022, and 2023 tax years.
    If the resulting average adjusted gross farm income derived from 
items 1 through 12 of the definition of income derived from farming, 
ranching, and forestry operations is at least 66.66 percent of the 
average AGI of the person or legal entity, then the average adjusted 
gross farm income may also take into consideration income or benefits 
derived from the following:
    (1) The sale, trade, or other disposition of equipment to conduct 
farm, ranch, or forestry operations; and
    (2) The provision of production inputs and production services to 
farmers, ranchers, foresters, and farm operations.
    For legal entities not required to file a Federal income tax 
return, or a person or legal entity that did not have taxable income in 
1 or more tax years during the base period, the average will be the 
adjusted gross farm income, including losses, averaged for the 2021, 
2022, and 2023 tax years, as determined by FSA. A new legal entity will 
have its adjusted gross farm income averaged only for those years of 
the base period for which it was in business; however, a new legal 
entity will not be considered ``new'' to the extent it takes over an 
existing operation and has any elements of common ownership interest 
and land with the preceding person or legal entity from which it took 
over. When there is such commonality, income of the previous person or 
legal entity will be averaged with that of the new legal entity for the 
base period. For a person filing a joint tax return, the certification 
of average adjusted gross farm income may be reported as if the person 
had filed a separate Federal tax return and the calculation is 
consistent with the information supporting the filed joint return.
    Average AGI means the average of the adjusted gross income as 
defined under 26 U.S.C. 62 or comparable measure of the person or legal 
entity. The relevant tax years for the 2025 program year are 2021, 
2022, and 2023.
    Crop year means:
    (1) For insured crops, the crop year as defined according to the 
applicable Federal crop insurance policy; and
    (2) For NAP-covered crops, the crop year as defined in 7 CFR 
1437.3.
    Deputy Administrator means the FSA Deputy Administrator for Farm 
Programs.
    Farming operation means a business enterprise engaged in the 
production of agricultural products, commodities, or livestock, 
operated by a person, legal entity, or joint operation. A person or 
legal entity may have more than one farming operation if the person or 
legal entity is a member of one or more legal entity or joint 
operation.
    Federal crop insurance means an insurance policy reinsured by the 
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation administered by RMA under the 
provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501-1524), as 
amended. It does not include private plans of insurance.
    Federal crop insurance indemnity means the payment to a participant 
for crop losses covered under Federal crop insurance administered by 
RMA in accordance with the Federal Crop Insurance Act.
    Floriculture means the commercial production of flowers and cut 
greenery that are field-grown or grown in a controlled environment, 
including those planted in containers or other growing mediums.
    Fruit means the edible reproductive body of a seed plant or tree 
nut (such as apple, orange, and almond) such that fruit means the 
harvestable or harvested part of a plant developed from a flower.
    Income derived from farming, ranching, and forestry operations 
means income of a person or legal entity derived from:
    (1) Production of crops and unfinished raw forestry products;
    (2) Production of livestock, aquaculture products used for food, 
honeybees, and products derived from livestock;
    (3) Production of farm-based renewable energy;
    (4) Selling (including the sale of easements and development 
rights) of farm, ranch, and forestry land, water or hunting rights, or 
environmental benefits;
    (5) Rental or lease of land or equipment used for farming, 
ranching, or forestry operations, including water or hunting rights;
    (6) Processing, packing, storing, and transportation of farm, 
ranch, or forestry commodities including for renewable energy;
    (7) Feeding, rearing, or finishing of livestock;
    (8) Payments of benefits, including benefits from risk management 
practices, Federal crop insurance indemnities, and catastrophic risk 
protection plans;
    (9) Sale of land that has been used for agricultural purposes;
    (10) Benefits (including, but not limited to, cost-share assistance 
and other payments) from any Federal program made available and 
applicable to payment eligibility and payment limitation rules, as 
provided in 7 CFR part 1400;
    (11) Income reported on IRS Schedule F or other schedule, approved 
by the Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, used by the person or 
legal entity to report income from such operations to the IRS;
    (12) Wages or dividends received from a closely held corporation, 
an Interest Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation (IC-DISC), 
or legal entity comprised entirely of family members when more than 50 
percent of the legal entity's gross receipts for each tax year are 
derived from farming, ranching, and forestry activities as defined in 
this document; and
    (13) Any other activity related to farming, ranching, or forestry, 
as determined by the Deputy Administrator.
    IRS means the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service.
    Legal entity means a corporation, joint stock company, association, 
limited partnership, limited liability company, irrevocable trust, 
estate, charitable organization, general partnership, joint venture, or 
other similar organization created under Federal or State law including 
any such organization participating in a business structure as a 
partner in a general partnership, a participant in a joint venture, a 
grantor of a revocable trust, or as a participant in a similar 
organization. A business operating as a sole proprietorship is 
considered a legal entity.
    NAP means the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program under 
section 196 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 
1996 (7 U.S.C. 7333) and 7 CFR part 1437.
    Nursery crops means decorative or nondecorative plants grown in a 
container or controlled environment for commercial sale.
    Ownership interest means to have either a legal ownership interest 
or a beneficial ownership interest in a legal entity. For the purposes 
of administering MASC, a person or legal entity that owns a share or 
stock in a legal entity that is a corporation, limited liability 
company, limited partnership, or similar type entity where members

[[Page 99215]]

hold a legal ownership interest and shares in the profits or losses of 
such entity is considered to have an ownership interest in such legal 
entity. A person or legal entity that is a beneficiary of a trust or 
heir of an estate who benefits from the profits or losses of such 
entity is also considered to have a beneficial ownership interest in 
such legal entity.
    Person means an individual who is a natural person and does not 
include a legal entity.
    Production inputs mean material to conduct farming operations, such 
as seeds, chemicals, and fencing supplies.
    Production services mean services provided to support a farming 
operation, such as custom farming, custom feeding, and custom fencing.
    United States means all 50 States of the United States, the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other 
territory or possession of the United States.
    USDA means the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
    Vegetable means the edible part of an herbaceous plant (such as 
cabbage or potato) or fleshy fruiting body of a fungus (such as white 
button or shiitake) grown for an edible part such that vegetable means 
the harvestable or harvested part of any plant or fungus whose fruit, 
fleshy fruiting bodies, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or 
flower parts are used as food and includes mushrooms, sprouts, and 
herbs (such as basil or cilantro).

Specialty Crops

    For MASC, ``specialty crop'' includes only the following crops:
     fruits, including, but not limited to, dried fruits;
     vegetables, including, but not limited to, dry edible 
beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed;
     tree nuts;
     nursery crops;
     Christmas trees;
     floriculture;
     culinary and medicinal herbs and spices;
     honey;
     hops;
     maple sap;
     tea;
     turfgrass; and
     grass seed.
    Common examples of specialty crops can be found at https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/USDASpecialtyCropDefinition.pdf.
    The following crops are not specialty crops for MASC:
     field and grain crops, such as amaranth (for grain), 
barley (including malting barley), buckwheat, corn (other than sweet 
corn), millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, sorghum, triticale, wheat, and 
wild rice);
     forage, hay, and cover crops, such as alfalfa, birdsfoot 
trefoil, clover, hay, grasses, mixed forage, perennial peanuts, sunn 
hemp, and vetch;
     oilseed crops, such as camelina, canola, crambe, flax, 
flaxseed, linseed, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, sesame, soybeans, 
and sunflower seed;
     other crops such as cotton, cottonseed, hemp, kochia 
(prostrata), lespedeza, milkweed, peanuts, primrose, seed of ineligible 
crops (other than grass seed), sugar beets, sugarcane, tobacco, and 
crops with an intended use of fallow, forage, grazing, green manure, or 
left standing; and
     other agricultural products such as aquatic animal species 
(such as fish and shellfish), dairy products, eggs, livestock products, 
and tofu.

Eligible Producers

    To be eligible for MASC, a producer must be in the business of 
farming at the time of application and be entitled to an ownership 
share and share in the risk of producing a specialty crop that will be 
sold in calendar year 2025. To be considered in the business of farming 
at the time of application, a producer must have an active business 
operation with assets and resources needed to grow, harvest, and market 
a specialty crop in calendar year 2025. Producers who previously grew a 
specialty crop but have ceased operation at the time of application 
(for example, through the sale of land and equipment needed to produce 
a crop) are not eligible for MASC.
    In addition, consistent with other FSA assistance programs, a 
producer must be one of the following to be eligible:
     Citizen of the United States;
     Resident alien, which for purposes of MASC means ``lawful 
alien'' as defined in 7 CFR 1400.3;
     Partnership organized under State law;
     Corporation, limited liability company, or other 
organizational structure organized under State law;
     Indian Tribe or Tribal organization, as defined in section 
4(b) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 5304); or
     Foreign person or foreign entity who meets all 
requirements as described in 7 CFR part 1400.
    The regulations in 7 CFR part 1400, subpart E, are applicable to 
foreign persons and legal entities (foreign and domestic) containing 
members, stockholders, or partners who are not U.S. citizens or 
resident aliens that own more than 10 percent of the legal entity.
    Federal, State, and local governments, including public schools, 
are not eligible for MASC payments.

Eligible Specialty Crop Sales and Required Documentation

    MASC payments are based on a producer's total specialty crop sales 
in calendar year 2023 or 2024 (except for new producers, as described 
below) because the amount of sales reflects a producer's existing 
market and operation size, which impacts their ability to take 
advantage of economies of scale. Marketing economies of scale are 
achieved when an operation has the ability to spread marketing costs, 
such as advertising, over larger outputs. In lieu of a complex 
production-based calculation, FSA is using prior year sales as an 
alternative indicator of output, which simplifies the application 
process by using information that is easily determined by producers. 
Using prior year sales as a proxy for output to calculate MASC 
assistance provides specialty crop growers with additional resources to 
address increased marketing costs associated with expanded or new 
markets which directly impacts their ability to realize greater 
economies of scale.
    Eligible specialty crop sales only include sales of commercially 
marketed raw specialty crops grown in the United States by the 
producer. The portion of sales derived from adding value to a specialty 
crop, such as sorting, processing, or packaging, is not included in a 
producer's eligible sales. For example, the eligible sales for a 
producer who grows cucumbers and sells raw cucumbers and cucumber 
pickles at a local farmer's market would be the sales of raw cucumbers 
sold at the market plus the raw value of the cucumbers used in the 
pickles. The value of the cucumbers used in the pickles would be 
determined by multiplying the quantity of cucumbers processed into 
pickles by the price of raw cucumbers sold at the market. Sales of 
specialty crops purchased for resale may be included only if there is a 
change in characteristic due to the time held (for example, a 2-inch 
plant that was sold as an 18-inch plant after 4 months). Eligible 
producers who market their specialty crops through a subscription or 
membership-based service, such as a community-supported agriculture 
(CSA) model, may include the portion of the membership or subscription 
fees received for specialty crops in their eligible sales.
    MASC is providing assistance to specialty crop producers in order 
to

[[Page 99216]]

increase domestic consumption of such crops, which is intended to 
expand domestic specialty crop markets or develop new markets for such 
crops in 2025; therefore, MASC assistance will be based on a producer's 
anticipated sales in the 2025 calendar year. For most producers, FSA 
will use a producer's specialty crop sales in calendar year 2023 or 
2024 as a proxy for expected specialty crop sales in the 2025 calendar 
year. Allowing producers to choose between 2023 and 2024 calendar year 
sales is intended to provide flexibility for producers who had reduced 
sales in one of those years due to disaster events or other impacts 
such as price fluctuations or loss of markets.
    For producers who grew and sold specialty crops in either the 2023 
or 2024 calendar year, for the purpose of calculating payments under 
MASC, the total specialty crop sales certified on the MASC application 
will be equal to one of the following, as elected by the producer:
     2023 calendar year sales of specialty crops, plus Federal 
crop insurance indemnities and NAP payments for such specialty crops 
for the 2023 crop year; or
     2024 calendar year sales of specialty crops, plus Federal 
crop insurance indemnities and NAP payments for such specialty crops 
for the 2024 crop year.
    To be considered a 2023 or 2024 calendar year sale, the producer 
must have received payment for the specialty crop during the applicable 
calendar year. Federal crop insurance indemnities and NAP payments for 
the 2023 or 2024 crop year will be included for 2023 or 2024, 
respectively, regardless of when they were received by the producer, 
and are included in eligible sales to more accurately represent what a 
producer would expect to sell in calendar year 2025 by taking into 
account crops that would have been sold in the selected year if not for 
losses due to disaster events covered by Federal crop insurance and 
NAP.
    If requested by FSA, producers must provide documentation to 
substantiate their reported 2023 or 2024 calendar year sales and 
Federal crop insurance indemnities.\14\ Acceptable documentation must 
show the crop, quantity sold, and the dollar amount received. 
Acceptable documentation to substantiate total specialty crop sales 
includes, but is not limited to:
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    \14\ Producers are not required to submit documentation of 2023 
or 2024 crop year NAP payments included in their eligible sales 
because FSA has that information on file.
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     sales receipts;
     sales records;
     ledgers of income;
     contract or sales agreements;
     income statements of deposit slips;
     register tapes with supporting documentation acceptable to 
FSA;
     purchase orders;
     third party processor or distributor statements;
     contemporaneous diaries that are determined acceptable by 
USDA,
     other sales documents indicating the crop was sold; and
     IRS Schedule F accompanied by documentation to support 
that the reported amounts are from sales of specialty crops.
    If requested by FSA, the producer must also provide acceptable 
evidence that the producer grew and harvested the crop and was in the 
business of farming at the time of application. Such evidence may 
include, but is not limited to:
     acreage reports;
     land use records, such as lease agreements or ownership 
records;
     field inspection or certification records, such as reports 
from organic certification inspections or other third party 
inspections;
     shipping or transportation receipts;
     packaging or processing records;
     photographic evidence;
     Federal crop insurance records;
     NAP records;
     labor records;
     records of agricultural inputs, such as seed, fertilizer, 
and pesticides;
     contemporaneous harvest records; and
     invoices for custom harvesting.
    Producers must submit requested documentation to FSA within 15 days 
of the request.
    FSA is allowing certain producers (collectively referred to as 
``new producers'') to use an estimate of their 2025 calendar year 
specialty crop sales, in lieu of actual 2023 or 2024 calendar year 
sales, if the producer:
     Began producing specialty crops in 2023 or 2024 but did 
not have sales due to the immaturity of the crop;
     Began producing specialty crops in 2024 but did not have a 
complete year of sales; or
     Is beginning to grow specialty crops in 2025.
    New producers have no or limited sales and will need to develop new 
markets for their specialty crops in order to be successful, and MASC 
payments are intended to provide assistance to these producers that 
will help them create or develop markets for their specialty crops in 
calendar year 2025. To be eligible for MASC, a new producer must have 
one of the following:
     A legally binding contract or agreement wherein the 
producer has agreed to sell a specialty crop during calendar year 2025; 
or
     Evidence that, at the time of application, a specialty 
crop has been planted and is expected to be harvested and sold in the 
2025 calendar year.
    All new producers must provide acceptable documentation that shows 
the producer is in the business of farming at time of application and 
intends to sell a specialty crop in the 2025 calendar year. Expected 
2025 sales must be based on realistic projections that are supported by 
acceptable documentation demonstrating the producer's ability to 
achieve the expected sales and their ability to grow, harvest, and 
market the expected yield or inventory. For new producers who have 
entered into a legally binding sales contract or purchase agreement for 
the sale of their specialty crop, their 2025 expected specialty crop 
sales must be based on the terms of their contract or agreement 
regarding the total sale amount or the price and amount of inventory or 
production. For new producers who are growing a specialty crop intended 
for sale in 2025 who do not have a contract or agreement, their 
expected 2025 specialty crop sales must be based on their specialty 
crop acreage or inventory that is planted at the time of application 
and published yields and prices such as Federal Crop Insurance 
Corporation-established data, FSA-established National Crop Table data, 
and National Agricultural Statistic Service data, or published local 
data sources.
    New producers must submit form FSA-1141, Marketing Assistance for 
Specialty Crops (MASC) New Producer Expected Sales Worksheet, and 
provide documentation to substantiate their expected 2025 calendar year 
sales by January 8, 2025.

Payment Factors and Calculation

    FSA will calculate MASC payments based on the producer's total 
specialty crop sales for the calendar year elected by the producer 
(either 2023 or 2024, or expected 2025 sales for new producers), as 
described above. The total specialty crop sales reported by the 
producer will be separated into the sales ranges shown in Table 1. The 
sales ranges are based on the traditional Agricultural Resource 
Management Survey (ARMS) groupings.\15\
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    \15\ ARMS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's primary source 
of information on the production practices, resource use, and 
economic well-being of America's farms and ranches. See https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/arms-farm-financial-and-crop-production-practices/ for more information.

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[[Page 99217]]

    After the end of the application period, FSA will determine a 
percent payment factor for each sales range (referred to as ``a'' 
through ``e'' in Table 1). These factors are necessary to ensure that 
payments do not exceed the $2 billion in allocated funding. The factors 
will depend on the number of eligible MASC applicants, the total sales 
reported by those applicants for each sales range, and the payment 
limitation per person or legal entity. Therefore, factors are unknown 
and cannot be determined until after the application period closes.
    In order to streamline MASC assistance and provide payments 
quickly, FSA will use the CFAP 2 modelling approach to develop MASC 
percent payment factors; the CFAP 2 approach relied on statistical 
analysis of the ratio of variable costs per farm to sales per 
farm.16 17 According to general convention, a farm's 
expenses per unit of production or sales tends to decrease as farm size 
increases.\18\ Larger farms tend to have lower costs of production per 
unit of sales; hence, MASC payments as a share of total sales fall as 
sales per farm increase. The regression analysis used for CFAP2 
confirmed that the ratio of variable expenses to sales decreases as 
farm size (sales range) increases.
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    \16\ Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 Cost-Benefit Analysis 
(September 15, 2020), available at https://www.regulations.gov/document/FSA-2020-0006-0002.
    \17\ The second through fourth sales range groupings in Table 1 
are the traditional groupings used by USDA to summarize ARMS data by 
farm size. However, for sales values per farm of $49,000 or less, 
the USDA data summaries are further broken down into $9,999 or less 
and $10,000 to $49,999; for sales of $100,000 to $499,999 the USDA 
sales summaries were further broken down into $100,000 to $249,999 
and $250,000 to $499,000; and for sales values of $1,000,000 or 
more, into $1,000,000 to $4,900,000 and $5,000,000 or more. For CFAP 
2, USDA collapsed the lower two, middle two, and upper two ranges 
into one range each in order to simplify the payment design.
    \18\ The decrease in costs of production per unit of output or 
sales as farm size increases is known as economies of scale, see for 
example, C. Morrison Paul, R. Nehring, D. Banker, and A. Somwaru. 
2004. ``Scale Economies and Efficiency in U.S. Agriculture: Are 
Traditional Farms History?'' Journal of Productivity Analysis vol 
22: pp 185-205; Gardner, B. 2002. ``American Agriculture in the 
Twentieth Century: How it Flourished and What it Cost,'' Harvard 
University Press.
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    As explained in more detail below, the predicted ratio of variable 
expenses to sales per farm for each sales class determines the 
relationship between the payment rates for each of the five sales 
ranges. Information on the number of farms and sales per farm in each 
sales range, and on applicants hitting the payment limit, will be used 
to re-adjust the payment rates for each range so that total payments 
stay within the $2 billion. As a result, estimated payment factors will 
likely differ than those shown as examples in Table 2.
    Note that estimated payment factors for each sales range 
automatically adjust per the mathematical equations that maintain the 
ratio between each payment factor and the predicted variable expenses 
to sales per farm. For example, as the number of eligible producers 
increases, the $2 billion will be distributed across more producers, 
causing the payment factors for each sales range to decrease.
    The payment factors will decrease as the sales range increases, 
meaning the first sales range (up to $49,999) will have the largest 
factor and the fifth sales range (all sales over $1 million) will have 
the smallest payment factor. While the actual payment factors cannot be 
determined before the end of the application period, Table 2 provides 
examples of estimated payment factors for four scenarios.\19\ The 
second column contains the ratio of variable costs to sales per farm 
that was predicted from the statistical analysis used for CFAP2, which 
will also be used for MASC. The 57,000 applications in the third column 
are the number of specialty crop farms (from ARMS) that applied for the 
CFAP 2 program design, with applications in the three successive 
columns being multiples, and the applications in the last columns being 
roughly the numbers of specialty crops farms in the 2022 Census of 
Agriculture. Each column of payment factors assumes the same $2 billion 
in total payments.
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    \19\ The examples of MASC payment factors for each sales range 
are based on CFAP 2 program data for specialty crop producers. 
Therefore, the data represent those producers who self-selected and 
applied for CFAP 2 and do not necessarily represent those specialty 
crop producers who may apply for MASC. While CFAP 2 was similar to 
MASC in terms of producer and specialty crop eligibility, estimated 
MASC payment factors extrapolated from CFAP 2 data are shown only as 
illustrative examples and final payment factors will be announced in 
a news release and may be different from those shown here. To 
develop the scenarios for Table 2, the 57,000 CFAP 2 applications 
were assumed to provide an estimate of the minimum number of 
applicants. Higher applicant scenarios (up to 227,000 applicants) 
were developed while preserving the underlying distribution of the 
CFAP 2 data. For the sake of simplicity, the examples in Table 2 do 
not account for payment limitations per person or legal entity.
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    As shown in Table 2, the second column is essential to determining 
the other table values. If the variable costs to sales ratio in the 
first row of numbers (for example, 0.903) is divided by that in the 
second row (for example, 0.849), then it yields a ratio that is 
approximately equal to the payment factor relationships between the 
first and second sales category rows (for example, 11.3 divided by 
10.6).\20\ This relationship holds across all rows and columns. The 
factors are expected to range between 2 to 11 percent, depending on the 
number of potential applications but could go higher or lower depending 
on how many eligible producers apply.
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    \20\ For any given pair of rows, differences across the columns 
between the ratios of the pair of rows is due to rounding error in 
moving from the computer software's level of precision to the one 
decimal place used in the actual payment rates.

                          Table 1--Sales Ranges
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Percent
                        Sales range                            payment
                                                                factor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up to $49,999                                                         a
$50,000-$99,999                                                       b
$100,000-$499,999                                                     c
$500,000-$999,999                                                     d
All sales over $1 million                                             e
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                   Table 2--Estimated Payment Factor Examples Assuming $2 Billion in Payments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Predicted ratio            Example of estimated percent payment factors
                                  of variable    ---------------------------------------------------------------
         Sales range             costs to sales       57,000          113,000         170,000         227,000
                                    per farm        applicants      applicants      applicants      applicants
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Up to $49,999                              0.903            11.3             5.7             3.8             2.8
$50,000-$99,999                            0.849            10.6             5.3             3.6             2.7
$100,000-$499,999                          0.826            10.3             5.2             3.5             2.6
$500,000-$999,999                          0.771             9.6             4.9             3.2             2.4
All sales over $1 million                  0.748             9.3             4.7             3.1             2.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 99218]]

    To calculate a producer's MASC payment, FSA will:
    (1) Multiply the amount of sales in each range in Table 1 by the 
corresponding percent payment factor for that range; and
    (2) Calculate the sum of the results for each sales range.
    For example, if a producer reported $450,000 of total specialty 
crop sales for their elected year, FSA would calculate a payment equal 
to the sum of the following:
     $49,999 (the amount of sales in the first range) 
multiplied by percent payment factor a;
     $50,000 (the amount of sales in the second range) 
multiplied by percent payment factor b; and
     $350,001 (the amount of sales in the third range) 
multiplied by percent payment factor c.
    Payments are subject to a payment limitation of $125,000, as 
described below. FSA will issue MASC payments after the end of the 
application period. If demand for MASC payments exceeds available 
funding, either MASC payments may be prorated, the payment limitation 
may be lowered, or both. If proration or a reduction of the payment 
limitation is necessary, the reduction or lowered payment limitation 
will apply equally to all MASC participants. If additional funding 
remains available after MASC payments are issued and any appeals and 
requests for equitable relief have been resolved, FSA may issue an 
additional payment.

Average AGI Limitation and Payment Limitation

    A person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general 
partnership, will not be eligible to receive, directly or indirectly, a 
MASC payment if the average adjusted gross income of the person or 
legal entity exceeds $900,000 for 2021, 2022, and 2023, unless the 
person or legal entity's average adjusted gross farm income is at least 
75 percent of their average AGI.
    A person or legal entity, other than a joint venture or general 
partnership, cannot receive, directly or indirectly, more than $125,000 
in MASC payments. This payment limitation is consistent with the 
payment limitation used in other FSA programs such as the Agriculture 
Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs, the Livestock Forage 
Disaster Program, NAP at the basic coverage level, and the Rice 
Production Program.
    A payment made to a legal entity will be attributed to those 
members who have a direct or indirect ownership interest in the legal 
entity, unless the payment of the legal entity has been reduced by the 
proportionate ownership interest of the member due to that member's 
ineligibility.
    Attribution of payments made to legal entities will be tracked 
through four levels of ownership in legal entities \21\ as follows:
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    \21\ Attribution of payments through four levels of ownership in 
legal entities is consistent with the approach used in other FSA 
programs specified in 7 CFR 1400.1.
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     First level of ownership--any payment made to a legal 
entity that is owned in whole or in part by a person will be attributed 
to the person in an amount that represents the direct ownership 
interest in the first level or payment legal entity; \22\
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    \22\ The ``first level or payment legal entity'' means that the 
payment entity will have a reduction applied, and if the payment 
entity happens to be a joint venture, that reduction is applied to 
the first level, or highest level, for payments. The ``first level 
or payment legal entity'' is the highest level of ownership of the 
applicant to whom payments can be attributed or limited. If the 
applicant is a business type that does not have a limitation or 
attribution, the reduction is applied to the first level, but if the 
business type can have the reduction applied directly to it, then 
the limitation applies.
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     Second level of ownership--any payment made to a first-
level legal entity that is owned in whole or in part by another legal 
entity (referred to as a second-level legal entity) will be attributed 
to the second-level legal entity in proportion to the ownership of the 
second-level legal entity in the first-level legal entity; if the 
second-level legal entity is owned in whole or in part by a person, the 
amount of the payment made to the first-level legal entity will be 
attributed to the person in the amount that represents the indirect 
ownership in the first-level legal entity by the person;
     Third and fourth levels of ownership--except as provided 
in the second level of ownership bullet above and in the fourth level 
of ownership bullet below, any payments made to a legal entity at the 
third and fourth levels of ownership will be attributed in the same 
manner as specified in the second level of ownership bullet above; and
     Fourth-level of ownership--if the fourth level of 
ownership is that of a legal entity and not that of a person, a 
reduction in payment will be applied to the first-level or payment 
legal entity in the amount that represents the indirect ownership in 
the first level or payment legal entity by the fourth-level legal 
entity.
    Payments made directly or indirectly to a person who is a minor 
child will be combined with the earnings of the minor's parent or legal 
guardian.
    A person or legal entity must provide the name, address, valid 
taxpayer identification number, and ownership share of each person, or 
the name, address, valid taxpayer identification number, and ownership 
share of each legal entity, that holds or acquires an ownership 
interest in the legal entity. MASC payments to a legal entity will be 
reduced in proportion to a member's ownership share when a valid 
taxpayer identification number for a person or legal entity that holds 
a direct or indirect ownership interest of less than 10 percent at or 
above the fourth level of ownership in the business structure is not 
provided to USDA. A legal entity will not be eligible to receive 
payment when a valid taxpayer identification number for a person or 
legal entity that holds a direct or indirect ownership interest of 10 
percent or greater at or above the fourth level of ownership in the 
business structure is not provided to USDA.
    If a person or legal entity is not eligible to receive MASC 
payments due to the person or legal entity failing to satisfy payment 
eligibility provisions, the payment made either directly or indirectly 
to the person or legal entity will be reduced to zero. The amount of 
the reduction for the direct payment to the producer will be 
commensurate with the direct or indirect ownership interest of the 
ineligible person or ineligible legal entity.
    Like other programs administered by FSA, payments made to an Indian 
Tribe or Tribal organization, as defined in section 4(b) of the Indian 
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304), will 
not be subject to payment limitation.

How To Apply

    Applicants must submit FSA-1140, Marketing Assistance for Specialty 
Crops (MASC) Application, to their local FSA county office \23\ by 
January 8, 2025. Applicants will submit 1 application that includes 
their total specialty crop sales in all counties nationwide. New 
producers must also submit all required documentation and FSA-1141 by 
January 8, 2025. FSA will not take action on applications from new 
producers that are submitted without FSA-1141 and required 
documentation.
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    \23\ To locate the nearest FSA county office, visit the USDA 
Service Center locator at https://www.farmers.gov/working-with-us/service-center-locator.
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    Applicants must also submit the following eligibility forms to FSA 
by January 8, 2026, if not already on file with FSA for the 2025 
program year:
     AD-2047, Customer Data Worksheet, for new applicants and

[[Page 99219]]

applicants who need to update their information;
     CCC-901, Member Information for Legal Entities, if 
applicable;
     CCC-902E, Farm Operating Plan for an Entity; if 
applicable;
     CCC-902I, Farm Operating Plan for an Individual, if 
applicable;
     CCC-941, Averaged Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and Consent 
to Disclosure of Tax Information, for the producer and members of 
entities;
     CCC-942, Certification of Income from Farming, Ranching 
and Forestry Operations, if applicable, for the producer and members of 
entities; and
     AD-1026 Highly Erodible Land Conservation (HELC) and 
Wetland Conservation (WC) Certification, for the producer and 
affiliated persons, as specified in 7 CFR 12.8.

Other Provisions

    General requirements that apply to other FSA-administered commodity 
programs also apply to MASC. Producers that receive MASC payments must 
be in compliance with the provisions of 7 CFR part 12, ``Highly 
Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation,'' \24\ for the 2025 crop year, 
and the provisions of 7 CFR 718.6, which address ineligibility for 
benefits for offenses involving controlled substances, for the 2025 
program year.
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    \24\ To comply with the requirements of 7 CFR part 12, producers 
and affiliates must establish a detailed farm record with FSA, 
unless the producer or affiliate does not have interest in land 
devoted to agriculture (for example, beekeepers who place their 
hives on another person's land and producers of crops grown in 
greenhouses who do not own or lease any agricultural land 
themselves).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    All information provided to FSA for program eligibility and payment 
calculation purposes is subject to spot check. Participants are 
required to retain documentation in support of their application for 3 
years after the date of approval. Participants receiving MASC payments 
or any other person who furnishes such information to USDA must permit 
authorized representatives of USDA or the Government Accountability 
Office, during regular business hours, to enter the operation and to 
inspect, examine, and allow representatives to make copies of books, 
records, or other items for the purpose of confirming the accuracy of 
the information provided by the participant.
    If a MASC payment resulted from erroneous information provided by a 
participant, or any person acting on their behalf, the payment will be 
recalculated and the participant must refund any excess payment to FSA 
with interest calculated from the date of the disbursement of the 
payment. If FSA determines that the applicant intentionally 
misrepresented information provided on their application, the 
application will be disapproved and the applicant must refund the full 
payment to FSA with interest from the date of disbursement.
    Applicants have a right to a decision in response to their 
application. If an applicant submits an application or required 
documentation to an FSA county office after the deadline, the 
submission will be considered a request to waive the deadline. Requests 
to waive or modify program provisions, including requests to waive the 
deadline, are at the discretion of the Deputy Administrator. The Deputy 
Administrator has the authority to waive or modify application 
deadlines and other requirements or program provisions not specified in 
law, in cases where the Deputy Administrator determines: (1) it is 
equitable to do so; and (2) the lateness or failure to meet such other 
requirements or program provisions do not adversely affect the 
operation of MASC. Applicants who request to waive or modify MASC 
provisions do not have a right to a decision on those requests. The 
Deputy Administrator's refusal to exercise discretion on requests to 
waive or modify MASC provisions will not be considered an adverse 
decision and is, by itself, not appealable.
    Equitable relief and finality provisions specified in 7 CFR part 
718, subpart D, apply to determinations under MASC. Persons and legal 
entities who file an application with FSA have the right to an 
administrative review of any FSA adverse decision with respect to the 
application under the appeals procedures at 7 CFR parts 780 and 11. The 
determination of matters of general applicability that are not in 
response to, or do not result from, an individual set of facts in an 
individual participant's application are not matters that can be 
appealed. Such matters of general applicability include, but are not 
limited to, eligible specialty crops, the payment calculation, payment 
limitation, and payment factors.
    Any payment under MASC will be made without regard to questions of 
title under State law and without regard to any claim or lien. The 
regulations governing offsets in 7 CFR part 3 apply to MASC payments.
    In either applying for or participating in MASC, or both, the 
applicant is subject to laws against perjury (including but not limited 
to 18 U.S.C. 1621). If the applicant willfully makes and represents as 
true any verbal or written declaration, certification, statement, or 
verification that the applicant knows or believes not to be true, in 
the course of either applying for or participating in MASC, or both, 
then the applicant may be found to be guilty of perjury. Except as 
otherwise provided by law, if guilty of perjury the applicant may be 
fined, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, regardless of 
whether the applicant makes such verbal or written declaration, 
certification, statement, or verification within or outside the United 
States.
    For the purposes of the effect of a lien on eligibility for Federal 
programs (28 U.S.C. 3201(e)), USDA waives the restriction on receipt of 
funds under MASC but only as to beneficiaries who, as a condition of 
the waiver, agree to apply the MASC payments to reduce the amount of 
the judgment lien.
    In addition to any other Federal laws that apply to MASC, the 
following laws apply: 18 U.S.C. 286, 287, 371, and 1001.

Paperwork Reduction Act Requirements

    In compliance with the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(44 U.S.C. chapter 35), the information collection request has been 
approved by OMB under the control number of 0503-0028. FSA will provide 
financial assistance to specialty crop producers, if eligible, to help 
them engage in activities that aid in expanding domestic specialty crop 
markets or in developing new markets for their crops as described in 
this NOFA.

Environmental Review

    The environmental impacts of this notice have been considered in a 
manner consistent with the provisions of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347), the regulations of the Council 
on Environmental Quality (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and the FSA 
regulations for compliance with NEPA (7 CFR part 799).
    The purpose of MASC is to provide assistance to specialty crop 
operations to expand domestic specialty crop markets or develop new 
markets for their crops. The Categorical Exclusions in 7 CFR 799.31 
apply, specifically 7 CFR 799.31(b)(6)(iii) (that is, financial 
assistance to supplement income). No Extraordinary Circumstances (7 CFR 
799.33) exist. FSA has determined that this notice does not constitute 
a major Federal action that would significantly affect the quality of 
the human environment, individually or cumulatively. Therefore, FSA 
will not prepare an environmental assessment or environmental impact 
statement for this regulatory action.

[[Page 99220]]

Federal Assistance Programs

    The title and number of the Federal assistance programs, as found 
in the Assistance Listing,\25\ to which this document applies is 
10.096, Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC).
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    \25\ See https://sam.gov/content/assistance-listings.
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USDA Non-Discrimination Policy

    In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, USDA, its 
Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or 
administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on 
race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including 
gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital 
status, family or parental status, income derived from a public 
assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for 
prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or 
funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and 
complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
    Individuals who require alternative means of communication for 
program information (for example, braille, large print, audiotape, 
American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or 
USDA TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and text telephone (TTY)) 
or dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Service (both voice and text 
telephone users can initiate this call from any telephone). 
Additionally, program information may be made available in languages 
other than English.
    To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA 
Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at https://www.usda.gov/oascr/how-to-file-a-program-discrimination-complaint and 
at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in 
the letter all the information requested in the form. To request a copy 
of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form 
or letter to USDA by mail to: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of 
the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, 
Washington, DC 20250-9410 or email: [email protected].
    USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Zach Ducheneaux,
Administrator, Farm Service Agency, and Executive Vice President, 
Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2024-29017 Filed 12-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-E2-P
```