IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 177 
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 as a growing and 
important part of agriculture in the United States. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2015 
Ms. DELBENE (for herself, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. SEAN PAT-
RICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. BENISHEK, Mr. HECK of Washington, 
Mr. REICHERT, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. 
COURTNEY, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. GARAMENDI, and Ms. 
GABBARD) 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 as a growing and important 
part of agriculture in the United States. 
Whereas specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, 
tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops in-
cluding floriculture; 
Whereas farmers 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 billion, which accounts for about one-fourth 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 billion as recently as 
2013, which accounts for about 10 percent of all agricul-
tural exports from the United States; 
Whereas there are about 245,000 farms that grow a variety 
of specialty crops; 
Whereas specialty crop production is most highly con-
centrated in California, Florida, Washington, Oregon, 
North Dakota, and Michigan, however all 50 States have 
at least some specialty crop production; 
Whereas the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–79), 
also referred to as the 2014 Farm Bill, included unprece-
dented and historic amounts of funding for critical pro-
grams such as the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, 
the Specialty Crop Research Initiative, and the National 
Clean Plant Network; 
Whereas a vital program for specialty crops, 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 through Fiscal Year 2018 and beyond in the 
2014 Farm Bill; 
Whereas a vital program for specialty crops, the National 
Clean Plant Network, established under section 10202 of 
the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 
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•HRES 177 IH 
U.S.C. 7761), saw an increase in mandatory funding 
from the 2014 Farm Bill; 
Whereas a vital program for specialty crops, the Specialty 
Crop Block Grant Program, established under section 
10202 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 7761), saw an increase in mandatory 
funding from the 2014 Farm Bill; 
Whereas many important agriculture programs did not, how-
ever, receive mandatory funding under the 2014 Farm 
Bill; 
Whereas it is paramount that Congress builds on the 
progress of the 2014 Farm Bill to provide funding for 
these programs in future Farm Bills, so as to provide 
certainty to farmers across the United States; 
Whereas overall spending on specialty crops still remains a 
small percentage of all funding for crops, however, even 
taking into account mandatory and discretionary funding 
combined; 
Whereas specialty crops are not eligible for many of the tra-
ditional 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, pep-
pers, plums, potatoes, pumpkins, sweet corn, certain to-
matoes, walnuts, asparagus, beets, strawberries, broccoli, 
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•HRES 177 IH 
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 
goals, which call for half of plates to be fruits and vegeta-
bles; 
Whereas the number of farms producing and sales of fruits, 
berries, and tree nuts in the United States is steadily in-
creasing; 
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 the Census shows an increase in the value of sales 
for 
vegetables, 
potatoes, 
and 
melons 
from 
$14,700,000,000 in 2007 to $16,900,000,000 in 2012; 
Whereas the value of nursery, greenhouse, and floriculture 
sales represented $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 consider-
ation and funding in agriculture generally, but especially 
in the annual appropriations process and future Farm 
Bills: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) specialty crops are a vital part of agri-
culture in the United States; and 
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(2) Congress should fund programs that sup-
port specialty crops as a growing and important part 
of agriculture in the United States. 
Æ 
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