Specialty crop farmers and corn growers urge lawmakers to make needed changes to upcoming bills

U.S. specialty crops include fruits and vegetables.
(Adobe Stock photo)

U.S. farmers and farming advocates are pushing lawmakers to draft bills that include additional aid for specialty crop growers and include wording that allows for the year-round use of 15% ethanol-blended gasoline (E15), write Pro Farmer editors for Farm Journal.

Many specialty crop growers were disappointed with the Trump administration's 2025 aid package, which allocated $11 billion for row-crop farmers and $1 billion for specialty crop farmers. Specialty crops include fruits, veggies, nuts, nursery crops, Christmas trees and maple syrup.

Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance co-chair Cathy Burns told Nicole Heslip of Brownfield Ag Network, "Specialty crops account for one-third of crop sales in the U.S., and we have the same harmful headwinds that the rest of agriculture is experiencing."

Burns suggested "5 billion in relief would help alleviate some of the unprecedented economic challenges facing growers from labor, input costs, lost markets, and unfair competition from competitors," Heslip writes.

Allowing year-round sales of E15 gasoline has been on farmers' wish lists for years. Michelle Rook of Farm Journal reports, "Analysis from the National Corn Growers Association indicates that it would boost corn use by approximately 2.4 billion bushels annually and be one of the quickest ways to increase demand and chew through the record pile of corn in the U.S."

In the past, states had to apply for waivers to extend E15 sales into the summer months.