| USDA Farm Service Agency has just made $2 billion available to help specialty crop producers (fruit, vegetable, tree nuts, nursery crops, Christmas trees, floriculture, culinary and medicinal herbs and spices, honey, hops, maple sap, turfgrass and grass seed) expand markets and manage higher costs. Applications are only accepted from December 10, 2024, to January 8, 2025. Many NYS farms would seem to be eligible for these funds. This is not a grant; payments are based entirely on your sales history.
MASC is intended to help specialty crop producers meet higher marketing costs related to:
- Perishability of specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, floriculture, nursey crops and herbs;
- Specialized handling and transport equipment with temperature and humidity control;
- Packaging to prevent damage;
- Moving perishables to market quickly; and
- Higher labor costs.
FSA will calculate MASC payments based on the producer’s total specialty crop sales for the calendar year elected by the producer (either 2023 or 2024 or expected 2025 sales for new producers). The total specialty crop sales reported by the producer will be separated into sales ranges, each with a payment factor. Up to $49,000 (a); $50,000-$99,000 (b); $100,000-$499,999 (c); $500,000-$999,999 (d); All sales over $1million (e). The payment factors will depend on the amount of eligible applications FSA receives and are expected to range between 2 to 11 percent. The lower income ranges will have higher percentages than higher income ranges.
For example: if a producer had total specialty crop sales of $450,000, FSA would calculate the payment equal to the sum of the following: $49,999 multiplied by (a) + $50,000 multiplied by (b) + $350,001 multiplied by (c). If the payment factors (a, b and c) were all 2 percent the producer would be eligible for a $9,000 payment. Payments are subject to a payment limitation of $125,000.
Eligible producers or legal entities must:
- Have an average adjusted gross income (AGI) of less than $900,000 for tax years 2021, 2022, and 2023, unless the producer or legal entity’s average adjusted gross farm income is at least 75 percent of their average AGI; so, if your income is more than 75% from farming you are not held to the AGI cap.
- Be in the business of producing a specialty crop at the time of application and be entitled to an ownership share and share in the risk of producing a specialty crop that will be sold in calendar year 2025.
- Be a U.S. citizen, resident alien, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other organizational structure organized under state law, Indian Tribe or Tribal Organization, or a foreign person or foreign entity who meets certain eligibility requirements.
- Comply with the provisions of the “Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation” regulations, often called the conservation compliance provisions; and
- Not have a controlled substance violation.
Eligible established specialty crop producers can apply for MASC benefits by completing the FSA-1140, Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) Program Application, and submitting the form to any FSA county office by Jan. 8, 2025. When applying, eligible specialty crop producers must certify their specialty crop sales for calendar year 2023 or 2024.
New specialty crop producers are required to certify 2025 expected sales, submit an FSA-1141 application and provide certain documentation to support reported sales i.e., receipts, contracts, acreage reports, input receipts, etc. New producers are those who began producing specialty crops in 2023 or 2024 but did not have sales due to the immaturity of the crop, began producing specialty crops in 2024 but did not have a complete year of sales or will begin growing specialty crops in 2025.
This is the link to the program website Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC) | Farm Service Agency
This is the link to the Federal Register Notice that provides the most detail about the program. |