When experts, politicians and community representatives convened at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida on Aug. 1 to discuss the as-yet-undrafted Farm Bill, one panelist stood out when he addressed U.S. Rep Darren Soto (D-Florida), who represents the 9th district, which encompasses much of Central Florida.
“We really need the thoughts behind innovation, especially in the specialty crop produce area,” said broccoli farmer Adam Lytch with L&M Cos. in East Palatka. “We're not like the big corn belts where they receive all these subsidies through the Farm Bill. We receive none of that. We're on our own.”
Lytch said fruit and vegetable farmers need support from Congress to access new innovations and technologies that reduce the demand for labor and make them more efficient.
Soto responded to the labor shortage first: “We want to make a more humane way for farm workers to be able to come and work for you all and be able to go home as they like,” he said, alluding to his opposition to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s July 31 signing of Senate Bill 1718, which imposes enforceable penalties for those employing undocumented workers.
Next, Soto heralded bipartisan efforts to add to the scope of the Farm Bill. The Specialty Crop Mechanization Assistance Act of 2023 would establish a new cost-share grant program to help growers buy newly commercialized mechanization and automation equipment to increase the efficiency of specialty crop production.
After the roundtable discussion, Lytch told Orlando Business Journal about the Specialty Crops Farm Bill Alliance, a national coalition of more than 200 organizations representing growers of fruits, vegetables and more. The group is advocating for an infusion of government-funded technology for specialty crop growers. These growers produce crops that account for 30% of total U.S. crop sales of more than $64 billion, he said.
“There’s so much innovation happening for large-scale commodity crops, and they get funding for that. For specialty crops, that has never been covered under any program.”
Even without subsidies, L&M Cos. is experimenting with automated broccoli harvesting.
“The equipment uses 3D cameras and machine learning to see broccoli heads that are ready for harvesting even if they are hidden by leaves. The technology has gotten so good that the whole head doesn’t have to be showing anymore.”
Christina Morton, director of communications for Maitland-based Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, hopes to see more access to harvesting tech: “Most specialty crops are hand-harvested. The work is intensive. Labor cost and availability are major limiting factors for specialty crop producers. With the domestic workforce crisis, the 2023 Farm Bill could help provide some relief in this area through investment in mechanization and automation.”
2023 Farm Bill
Congress left Washington, D.C., for the August recess without writing a Farm Bill draft. Though current legislation expires on Oct. 1, experts say it could be another year before a draft of the next Farm Bill circulates. Funding will hold steady until then, but there will be no changes, and some groups believe changes and expansion are needed soon. The programs currently covered by the 2018 Farm Bill include things such as nutrition, crop insurance and more, based on information from the American Farm Bureau Federation website.
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