Economic Relief for Specialty Crops Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Economic Relief for Specialty Crops Act would directly appropriate $5 billion for fiscal year 2027 to the Secretary of Agriculture. The money would remain available until spent and would be used for payments to specialty crop producers under USDA's Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers program announced on February 13, 2026, or a substantially similar later program created under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act. The appropriation would apply notwithstanding other provisions of law.
Payments would have to follow the terms and conditions in the January 8, 2025 Federal Register notice for Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops. The bill uses the existing statutory definition of specialty crop rather than creating a new crop list. It does not state an individual payment amount, allocation formula, application deadline, geographic set-aside, or new producer eligibility test; those operational details would come from the referenced program terms or a qualifying successor program.
Who Benefits and How
Eligible specialty crop farmers could receive federal cash assistance to support farm income and operations. Because the full $5 billion would remain available until expended, USDA would not have to obligate all payments during fiscal year 2027. Businesses that sell inputs or services to participating farms could benefit indirectly if assistance supports continued production and purchasing.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal taxpayers must pay the $5 billion cost of the appropriation. USDA would bear the implementation and administrative burden of determining eligibility, processing applications, calculating payments, enforcing controls, and disbursing funds under the existing notice or a substantially similar program. Producers must comply with those program terms and document eligibility to receive payment. The bill identifies no offset or rescission to cover the appropriation.
Key Provisions
- Appropriates $5 billion for fiscal year 2027 specialty crop assistance.
- Makes the money available until expended.
- Directs payments through the announced USDA program or a substantially similar successor.
- Requires consistency with the January 2025 program notice.
- Uses the existing federal definition of specialty crop.
- Provides no stated offset, per-producer award, or new allocation formula.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Provide a $5 billion fiscal year 2027 appropriation for Department of Agriculture payments to specialty crop producers under the Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers program or a substantially similar successor program.
Key Policy Areas
Agriculture, Specialty Crops, Federal Spending, Farm Assistance
Primary Purpose
Provide a $5 billion fiscal year 2027 appropriation for Department of Agriculture payments to specialty crop producers under the Assistance for Specialty Crop Farmers program or a substantially similar successor program.
Policy Domains
Section 2 - fiscal year 2027 specialty crop producer payments
Identified Gains
- Eligible specialty crop producers
- Specialty crop farm operations
- Agricultural suppliers serving participating farms
Identified Costs
- Federal taxpayers financing specialty crop payments
- Department of Agriculture program administrators
- Specialty crop producers documenting program eligibility
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeRead twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, …
Introduced in Senate
Mr. Schiff introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Eligible specialty crop producers, Specialty crop producers documenting program eligibility
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "usda"
- → Department of Agriculture program administrators
- "producers"
- → Eligible specialty crop producers
- "taxpayers"
- → Federal taxpayers
Note: {'scope_ids': ['specialty_crop_farmer_assistance'], 'description': 'The bill supplies program funding but leaves individual eligibility, payment calculations, applications, and other conditions to the referenced USDA notice or a substantially similar successor program.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A crop covered by section 3 of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology