A top USDA official told a California audience Feb. 13 that the agency’s new specialty crop initiative will increase competitiveness for some of the West’s most lucrative commodities.

Jenny Lester Moffitt, the USDA’s under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, said the agency is holding listening sessions and seeking producer input on ways to improve the agency’s myriad crop and trade programs.

She noted many of California’s more than 400 crops can only be grown domestically in the Golden State, and the agency wants to build stronger networks between producers, nutrition and medicine.

“There are a lot of challenges that specialty crop producers face,” Moffitt told the California Board of Food and Agriculture during a meeting at the University of California Cooperative Extension’s auditorium in Tulare. “As we launched our initiative … the key was recognizing those challenges. We’re hearing from farmers across the country (to ask) how can programs at USDA continue to meet the needs of today’s specialty crop producers as well as the specialty crop producers of the future.”

World Ag Expo begins

Moffitt made her remarks as the board was holding an official meeting to help kick off the 57th annual World Ag Expo, which is being held across the street at the International Agri-Center. The expo is running through Thursday, Feb. 15.

The USDA’s Specialty Crop Competitiveness Initiative was announced in November as a way to improve production and processing practices as well as boost marketing opportunities. The agency is seeking input from specialty-crop producers as it evaluates existing programs.

Western farmers in recent years have been buffeted by a variety of regional and global events, including natural disasters, trade disputes with China and other nations, and supply-chain and shipping snags worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moffitt cited the USDA’s recent announcement of numerous grant-funded projects to help growers, including more than $70 million for plant pest and disease management. The funding includes $5 million for detector dog teams trained to sniff out pests and disease in shipped produce.

The under secretary’s testimony highlighted the first Food and Ag Board meeting to be held in conjunction with the Tulare farm show since 2020. The meeting followed an opening ceremony and highlighted the first day of the farm show, which is featuring more than 1,200 exhibitors using 2.6 million square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibit space.

The red carpet rolled out for opening ceremonies at the Heritage Complex Banquet Hall, which included awards for Top-10 New Products winners and “We Believe in Growing” scholarship winners.

The festival is to include more than 100 special events, seminars and demonstrations, which included a much-anticipated women in ag panel, and a top-10 new products contest. Seminars over the three days include sessions on dairy, water, international trade and other topics.

Tuesday’s attendance at the farm show appeared brisk, signaling the three-day event may surpass the 108,233 attendees from 49 states and 56 countries last year.

“There’s been a lot of people who’ve come by,” said Sam Stoffers, a sales representative for the Salinas, Calif.-based Veda Farming. The equipment business visits about a half-dozen farm shows each year.

“The issue with going door to door (with sales pitches) is that farms are big,” Stoffers said. “Being able to meet people here and connect with them is huge.”

Today’s highlights will include a pitch event hosted by California State University, Fresno’s WET Center, which will introduce attendees to new and emerging technologies. Entertainment including live cooking demonstrations and workshops will take place in the World Ag Women pavilion throughout the show.

Taking testimony

Moffitt’s panel was the first of several testifying to the state board about the specialty-crop initiative, with others including representatives from The Wonderful Company, the California Fresh Fruit Association, the California Table Grape Commission, Western Growers, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers and other organizations.

As part of the initiative, the USDA published a Specialty Crops Resource Directory as a one-stop shop for the sector. The directory contains a comprehensive snapshot of USDA’s resources and services for specialty crop producers and businesses, according to the agency.

The USDA is also looking for comment submissions by March 8 and has launched a new specialty crops-dedicated website designed to provide information on the initiative.

In addition, the agency announced it is spending a combined $70.2 million on 21 research and Extension projects nationwide that address key challenges for both conventional and organic producers.

California Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross, a former USDA under secretary, said she’d like to work with the federal agency to make California a “preferred choice” for organic produce. She said organic sales are “huge” but acreage has declined.

California accounts for 36% of U.S. organic production, and organic sales in the state increased 16.4% to nearly $14 billion in 2021, according to the 2021-22 California Agricultural Organics Report. The growth occurred despite a 13.1% decline in organic harvested acreage, the state Department of Food and Agriculture reported.

“As we started to sit down with organic groups, that’s what we heard – we need to grow organic production and we need to grow organic markets and link it together,” Moffitt said.

California has offered grants to organizations that would help farmers convert acreage to organic production, including assistance with certification.

The World Ag Expo will continue today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15. Cost is $20, with kids 6 and under admitted free.

For the full schedule of events, click here.