MASC helps specialty crop producers offset higher marketing costs related to:

• Tenderness and 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 covers the following commercially marketed specialty crops grown in the US:

• 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.

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