The U.S. Department of Agriculture will be issuing a second round of payments for eligible specialty crop producers who applied to the Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops program by the January 20, 2025 deadline. Initially, $900 million in funding was sent to eligible producers in the first round. USDA announced it will provide an additional $1.3 billion in assistance to specialty crop growers coping with rising costs.
MASC funds are designed to help specialty crop producers meet costs related to the perishability of their crops, specialized handling/transport equipment, packaging, moving product to market rapidly and labor.