Specialty Crops

General Public

Commercial

Policy Makers

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Fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture). Wild plants are not considered specialty crops even though they may be used for the same purpose as cultivated plants. However, natural populations of native plants that are brought into cultivation, such as sugar maple trees, pecans, blueberry, huckleberry and cranberry are considered specialty crops by USDA.

Narrower Topics

Christmas Trees

Fruit Crops

Fruit crops are those yielding fruits and berries which generally are characterized by their sweet taste and their high content of organic acid and pectin.

Herbs

Horticulture

Horticulture is defined as that branch of agriculture concerned with growing plants that are used by people for food, for medicinal purposes, and for aesthetic gratification. [NALT]

Indigo

Nursery Production

Nuts

Vegetables

Publications

Specialty Crops and the Farm Bill

Suzanne D. Thornsbury

This publication provides Florida specialty crop producers with an overview of major policy approaches in the Farm Bill and a description of how they have evolved over time to address some of the unique characteristics of specialty crops.

A Practical Guide for Adjusting Fertigation Water pH in Specialty Crop Production

Guodong Liu, Md Jahidul Islam Shohag, Lisa Hickey, Yuncong Li, and Shufang Tian

Fruit and vegetable producers have widely adopted fertigation as a common practice. However, achieving optimal nutrient use efficiency and growth of crops requires careful management of the irrigation water’s pH, especially when the water quality exhibits excessive acidity or alkalinity. Adjusting the pH of irrigation water is crucial to meet crop preferences and ensure optimal conditions for growth. Growers frequently encounter challenges in effectively optimizing irrigation water pH. This publication aims to address this issue by providing an overview of adjusting irrigation water pH and offering practical guidelines. The target audiences of this guide are farm/nursery managers, growers, crop advisors, Future Farmers of America (FFA), Extension agents, researchers, students, and others who are interested in crop production.