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Funded by the Commodity Credit Corporation, MASC was announced in November alongside the $140 million Commodity Storage Assistance Program for facilities impacted by 2024 natural disasters.
MASC helps specialty crop producers (including winegrape growers) meet higher marketing costs related to:
- Perishability of specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, floriculture, nursey crops, and herbs;
- Specialized handling and transport equipment with temperature and humidity control;
- Packaging to prevent damage;
- Moving perishables to market quickly; and
- Higher labor costs.
MASC ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for MASC, a producer must be in business at the time of application, maintain an ownership share, and share in the risk of producing a specialty crop that will be sold in calendar year 2025.
MASC covers the following commercially marketed specialty crops:
- Fruits (fresh, dried);
- Vegetables (including dry edible beans and peas, mushrooms, and vegetable seed);
- Tree nuts;
- Nursery crops, Christmas trees, and floriculture;
- Culinary and medicinal herbs and spices; and
- Honey, hops, maple sap, tea, turfgrass, and grass seed.
To qualify, growers must have an Adjusted Gross Income limitation of $900,000 or below unless 75 percent of their income is from agriculture in which case the income limitation is waived.
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