A healthy correction

Farmers hope there's room for fruits, vegetables in new farm bill

AUTRYVILLE -- Brent Jackson makes his living by coaxing strawberries, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelons and two kinds of squash from Eastern North Carolina's sandy soil -- and he would love it if the lawmakers in Washington saw fit to help him out a bit.

This fall, for the first time, that could happen.

The five-year farm bill -- which earmarks tens of billions of dollars for big-time agriculture in the United States -- comes up for renewal this year and has planters of every agricultural commodity in the nation clamoring for dollars.

After years of seeing billions going to major Midwestern crops such as corn and wheat, specialty crops have a chance at some of that money. A proposal would earmark money for research and marketing of specialty crops, which make up more than half of the nation's gross receipts in agriculture and are a growing part of North Carolina's farm business.

"We've got a seat at the table to get some healthy choices in the farm bill," Jackson said this month, standing under a warm March sun and peering down at rows of strawberry plants with just-blooming yellow flowers. "I think we've got the best shot we've ever had."

While funding through the bill wouldn't likely be as much as farmers would like and would not go directly to growers, any cash for specialty crops could have sweeping impact in North Carolina, agriculture officials here say.

"It would help our growers, really, from one end of the state to another. It would have that much impact," said Kevin Hardison, horticultural marketing specialist for the N.C. Department of Agriculture.

Since the federal government stopped offering tobacco subsidies in 2002, more tobacco farmers in North Carolina have begun looking for alternative ways to earn a living from the earth, said Steve Troxler, the N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture.

"Specialty crops are becoming more and more important," Troxler said.

Now, the state has the fourth most diverse agriculture in the country, ranking high on crops ranging from strawberries to sweet potatoes.

Eat Healthy Act

A handful of Washington lawmakers gathered in a cramped news conference room in the U.S. Capitol earlier this month to introduce the Eat Healthy America Act, a bill that would spend $5 billion over five years on specialty crops.

Eventually, sponsor Rep. Dennis Cardoza, a Democrat from California, hopes to roll it into the larger farm bill.

The Eat Healthy America Act, running 70 pages, would expand marketing programs, encourage foreign exports, fund more research and help farmers sell their produce to school cafeterias.

North Carolina already has benefited some from such programs. It has a farm-to-schools program that sends in-season produce to cafeterias. N.C. State University has a significant research program in specialty crops.

And a federal marketing grant of about $10,000 a few years ago allowed the strawberry community, for example, to launch an advertising campaign: "N.C. Strawberries: Just Ripe For You."

"We got a lot of good out of it," said Debby Wechsler, executive secretary for the N.C. Strawberry Association. With more money, she said, "there's all kinds of possibilities. We'd like to steal some of the market back from California."

The proposal for specialty crops focuses on funding for research and marketing and does not include direct payments for farmers.

Subsidies, in the form of price supports and other payments, have long been used to prop up traditional row crops such as corn, wheat, cotton and tobacco. Peanuts also receive some subsidies.

Specialty farmers say they're more of a free-market crowd.