Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety
There is a new program from the United States Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency through which any farmer growing specialty crops in 2025 is eligible for funding to help get these crops to market. The application period closes by the end of day on January 8, 2025.
It is important to know that while this program is called the marketing assistance program, it does not require growers to use the funds for marketing purposes. It is in essence unrestricted funds available to specialty crop growers that they can use as they see fit. It is not a competitive grant program. The amount awarded to each producer will vary based on how many growers apply.
Who Is EligibleMASC covers producers who grow the following commercially marketed specialty crops grown in the US:
- Fruits (fresh, dried)
- Vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed)
- Tree nuts
- Nursery crops, Christmas trees, and floriculture
- Culinary and medicinal herbs and spices
- Honey, hops, maple sap, tea, turfgrass, and grass seed
Common examples of specialty crops can be found on USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service’s specialty crop definition webpage.
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
- 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
- Not have a controlled substance violation
More info on how to apply for this program
- MN FSA officesand contact information can be found here
- WI FSA offices and contact information can be found here
Forms to complete
FAQ about MASC program
Q: Is
this program available to new farmers?
A: New farmers are eligible to apply for this program. New farmers must either have a legally binding contract for crop sales for the 2025 season OR have crops currently in the ground that will be harvested in 2025. If a new farmer meets either of these criteria they must complete form 1141.
Q: Can
farmers project their 2025 sales instead of using their 2023 or 2024 sales?
A: No, current farmers must use either their 2023 or 2024 sales.
Q:
Which farmers need to fill out all of the forms?
A: All farmers should fill out all of the forms listed in the checklist, even if they have previously worked with the FSA.
Q: Do
farmers need to submit these records with these documents?
A: Farmers do not need to submit any additional forms or documents as part of an MASC application. Farmers need sales records if they are audited later by the FSA - but do not need to provide these as part of the MASC application.
Q: How
do farmers know how much money they will get paid through this program?
A: The payment farmers get through this program will be based off of their 2023 or 2024 specialty crop sales. Because the payment will also be based off of how many farmers apply nationwide it is impossible to know how much money an individual farmer will receive. However, the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) has estimated payments will likely be between 2.6%-10.3% of specialty crop sales, depending on total applicants.
Q: Is
this a competitive grant? Will everyone that applies get funding?
A: This is not a competitive grant. Everyone who qualifies for the program will receive a payment. However, payments will vary depending on a farm’s specialty crop sales and how many farmers sign up for the program.
Q: Do farmers have to provide
information about how they will spend MASC money?
A: No, farmers don’t need to provide any information about how they intend to spend MASC money.
Q: Do
sales of value added products count as specialty crop sales? What if a farmer
processes their own crops into value added products?
A: MASC farmers may only count raw agricultural product sales as specialty crop sales. This means value added products do not count if they are created from specialty crops bought in. If a farmer processes their own specialty crops into value added products they can only count the value of the raw commodity crop used to create the value added product.
Q: Do
CSA sales quality as specialty crop sales?
A: Yes, all specialty crops a farm sells as part of their CSA counts as specialty crop sales.
Q: When
is this grant application due?
A: The deadline to apply is January 8th, 2025. Late applications will not be accepted.
Q: Can
farmers submit their MASC application electronically?
A: Yes, under some circumstances farmers can electronically submit their application to their local FSA office using FSA electronic signature software. Farmers should reach out directly to their FSA office for details. It is especially important to make sure the documents have the correct signatures when being submitted electronically.
Q: Is
there any other eligibility criteria for this program farmers should be aware
of?
A: 1) Farmers must be in the business of producing a specialty crop at
the time of application. For example, this excludes farmers who exclusively buy
in all their specialty crops for a farm stand or CSA or who process specialty
crops they didn’t grow into value-added products.
2) Farmers must have an ownership role and
share in the risk of producing a specialty crop. Even if you are a family member that works on
a farm, you must have an ownership role in the business.
3) Not having a controlled substance violation (this is a federal drug offense).
Q: What
is the FSA definition of specialty crops?
A: Specialty crops are defined as: Fruits (fresh, dried) Nursery crops, Christmas trees, floriculture, Vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed) Culinary and medicinal herbs and spices, tree nuts, honey, hops, maple sap, tea, turfgrass, and grass seed.
The following are not defined by the
FSA as specialty crops: wild rice, maple syrup, pop corn, small grains
(including buckwheat and flax), eggs, sugar beets, peanuts, tobacco, hemp,
cannabis, hay, forage crops, and cover crops.
Here is the USDA website to learn more: https://www.fsa.usda.
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