McLean, Va. – The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee today approved legislation to provide the nation’s apple growers with $150 million in direct market loss assistance payments. Specifically, the $7.4 billion fiscal 2001 supplemental farm aid bill allocates $150 million to offset a portion of the devastating losses apple growers sustained in marketing the 2000 apple crop.

“Far too many of our nation’s apple growers have been financially crippled by a series of devastating economic blows,” said U.S. Apple Association (USApple) President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz, whose group spearheaded the Senate Agriculture Committee’s approval of the apple assistance measure. “We are extremely appreciative of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin’s efforts, along with our industry’s many allies in the Senate, to provide this much-needed assistance to America’s apple growers.”

Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and James Jeffords (I-Vt.) sponsored the apple market loss assistance measure in the Senate, and persuaded their colleagues on the Senate Agriculture Committee to provide $150 million in apple assistance.

While the $5.5 billion fiscal 2001 supplemental farm aid bill (H.R. 2213) adopted earlier by the House of Representatives does not contain a companion provision, the House overwhelmingly adopted $150 million in apple market loss assistance as part of the fiscal 2002 agricultural appropriations bill (H.R. 2330) earlier this month.

“While we are thankful to have prevailed in both the House and the Senate Agriculture Committee, we still have a long row to hoe,” said Naasz. “USApple will be working with our allies in both the House and Senate to ensure the apple market loss assistance measure is included in the first available farm aid legislation presented to President George W. Bush for his signature.”

The full Senate is expected to consider the fiscal 2001 supplemental farm aid bill next week, with the hope of hammering out an agreement with the House on a final version of that legislation prior to the August congressional recess. The Senate is not expected to consider its version of the fiscal 2002 agriculture appropriations bill (S. 1191) until after the August congressional recess, which ends Sept. 4. Any differences between the House and Senate versions of that legislation also will need to be reconciled before the spending measure can be sent to President Bush for his signature.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics, apple growers have suffered losses of $1.5 billion over the past five years, including an estimated $500 million during the past year alone. Unfairly priced imports, excessive regulatory costs, stagnant domestic consumption, food retail consolidation, subsidized foreign competition, diminished exports and global overproduction have all taken their toll on America’s apple growers.

The U.S. Apple Association (USApple) is the national trade association representing all segments of the apple industry. Members include 40 state apple associations representing 9,000 apple growers throughout the country, as well as nearly 500 individual firms involved in the apple business. USApple’s mission is to provide the means for all segments of the U.S. apple industry to join in appropriate collective efforts to profitably produce and market apples and apple products.