The One Big Beautiful Bill, narrowly passed by the U.S. Congress, contains a few big beautiful wins for the tree fruit industry.
Within the contentious budget reconciliation package, which President Trump signed into law on July 4, are provisions that extend and expand money for several specialty crop programs, including substantial research increases, said Kate Tynan, senior vice president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, which represents tree fruit growers in federal matters.
Here are a few highlights of what the new law does for tree fruit:
—Doubles funding to $400 million per year for the Market Access Program, used by tree fruit groups for overseas promotions.
—Increases Specialty Crop Research Initiative funding by $95 million — to $175 million per year — and includes $20 million specifically for mechanization research.
—Boosts Specialty Crop Block Grant funding by $15 million, for a total of $100 million per year.
—Increases funding for the National Clean Plant Network. The Clean Plant Center Northwest at the Washington State University campus in Prosser and Foundation Plant Services at the University of California, Davis, are part of the network and help screen fruit trees for diseases before commercial production.
The provisions covered by this month’s reconciliation had been sought by the Northwest Horticultural Council, U.S. Apple Association and other specialty crop advocates as part of the five-year Farm Bill. However, Congress has yet to renew the Farm Bill, which was last passed in 2018. The bill was extended in 2023 and 2024 and is currently scheduled to expire in September. •
