WASHINGTON — On May 3, Jon Reelhorn of Belmont Nursery, Fresno, CA, testified at a field hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture. The Committee is seeking input from the specialty crop community as it begins work on the next Farm Bill.
In his testimony, presented on behalf of the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) and the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers (CANGC), Reelhorn thanked the Committee for providing a “place at the table” for specialty crops, including nursery and greenhouse crops, in the 2008 Farm Bill. He detailed important successes to date addressing plant pest and disease prevention and detection, including the National Clean Plant Network and various federal/state efforts being overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Reelhorn also cautioned against well-intended programs leading to unforeseen negative consequences. He specifically mentioned the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which now threatens to divert to energy production the softwood and hardwood bark used by the horticultural industry for growing media and mulch. He cautioned against distorting existing value-added markets with “biomass to energy” federal subsidies for bark products.
Reelhorn ended with a mention of farm labor and the urgent need for Congress to consider the so-called AgJOBS labor reform bill. His comments on that issue were covered in the May 4 edition of Congress Daily, a widely read Capitol Hill publication:
“As important as the farm bill has become to America’s specialty crop industries, it is difficult to have a serious discussion about the future success of specialty crop producers without acknowledging the elephant in the room — farm labor,” said Jon Reelhorn, owner of Belmont Nursery in Fresno. “We fully recognize that farm labor is not a traditional farm bill issue,” he said. “Nonetheless, we raise it for this simple reason: Lack of timely and thoughtful resolution of the farm labor crisis will hasten the off-shoring of our specialty crop and livestock agriculture.”
Reelhorn’s full testimony may be viewed at www.ANLA.org.
