Sponsors (3)
The bill provides targeted, timely emergency payments to specialty-crop producers by using prior-year sales and higher caps for full-time farmers, but it depends on available funding and existing administrative rules—risking under- or uneven compensation and concentrating aid among larger operations while creating potential paperwork barriers for some producers.
Specialty-crop producers (fruit, vegetable, tree-nut, etc.) receive direct emergency payments calculated from prior-year sales and a crop-specific framework, giving timely, better-targeted financial relief after adverse events.
Producers whose farm income is at least 75% of total income can access higher payment caps (at least $500,000), protecting full-time farmers from restrictive limits.
Integrating this emergency assistance into existing program notice, eligibility, and appeal rules creates administrative consistency with other farm programs, which may speed delivery and streamline appeals handling.
Payments are limited by available appropriations, so assistance could be reduced, prorated, or delayed if funding is insufficient.
Higher payment caps for producers with ≥75% farm income risk concentrating federal assistance among larger or wealthier operations, reducing funds available per producer and disadvantaging smaller operations.
Calculating payments from prior-year sales can under- or over-compensate producers whose recent sales were atypical (e.g., due to market swings or unusual weather in the prior year), leaving some producers unfairly compensated.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes USDA to make emergency payments to specialty crop producers based on prior sales, with tailored payment rules and modified payment caps.
Official title: Amend the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to provide permanent disaster assistance for specialty crops, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 2, 2026 by Adam Schiff · Last progress June 2, 2026
Creates a new USDA authority to make direct emergency payments to specialty crop producers after adverse events, including economic crises and market disruptions. Payments are based on prior-year sales (or a multi-year average) times a Secretary-determined factor, subject to available funds and modified payment limits that recognize specialty-crop costs and business structures. The measure integrates the new program into existing farm program eligibility and notice rules, exempts producers who derive at least 75% of their income from farming from the usual statutory payment cap (replacing it with a Secretary-set cap not less than $500,000 per crop year), and requires USDA to design payment calculations that account for higher value crops, higher input costs, and diverse legal entities.