Marketing Assistance Specialty Crops Program Increases Available Funding and Extends Application Deadline to January 10, 2025
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops program has extended the application deadline through Friday, January 10, 2025. The program also has increased available funding to $2.65 billion. In addition, the maximum payment per farmer has been increased from $125,000 to $900,000.
MASC funds are intended to help specialty crop producers manage higher marketing costs related to various matters, such as higher labor costs, packaging to prevent damage, specialized handling and transportation costs, and the perishability of fruits. Payments will be made after the application period closes.
To be eligible for MASC, a producer must currently be in business, maintain an ownership share and share in the risk of producing a specialty crop that will be sold in 2025. USDA has published a MASC FAQ document addressing questions posed by applicants. Growers are encouraged to review the FAQs. A MASC fact sheet also is available online.
One of the most frequent questions concerns how to value a raw commodity. That question, and its answer, is noted below (from page 4 of the FAQ document).
Question. What should a producer include in the eligible specialty crop sales certification?
Answer. Eligible specialty crop sales include gross receipts of the raw crop marketed are considered eligible specialty crop sales for MASC purposes. Federal crop insurance indemnities and Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) indemnities received for the 2023 or 2024 specialty crops before the MASC deadline are also included. Note: Reported sales do not need to be adjusted to deduct for charges and expenses necessary to reach marketability of the raw crop and its intended use.
Eligible specialty crop sales exclude sales of value-added products resulting from manufacturing and/or processing activities that transform the intended use of the raw crop into a value-added product, including but not limited to shelling and hulling of tree nuts, processing of fruits into wines and jellies, or making sap into syrup.
APPLICATION FORMS
Application forms are available online. Applicants must submit the following (growers already may have some of these forms on file):
- Form FSA-1140 — Application and Instructions
- Form FSA-1141 — MASC New Producer Expected Sales Worksheet and Instructions
- Form AD-2047 — Customer Data Worksheet
- Form CCC-941 — Average Adjusted Gross Income Certification and Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information
- Form CCC-942 — Certification of Income from Farming, Ranching and Forestry Operations (if applicable)
- Form AD-1026 — Highly Erodable Land Conservation and Wetland Conservation
- Producers must certify their specialty crop sales for calendar year 2023 or 2024.
Applicants can submit the forms to their local FSA office and are encouraged to contact their FSA office with any questions they may have.
