Members of the wine and grape industry eagerly await the Grape Crush Report each spring.

San Rafael, Calif.—A proposed federal budget released Tuesday would cut agriculture spending by $46.54 billion in the next 10 years, and the California Grape Crush Report could be among the items on the chopping block.

As part of a promise to control federal spending, U.S. president Donald Trump’s proposed budget calls for a 21% decrease in agriculture funding for fiscal year 2018. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service works with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to publish the annual report that describes in detail how many tons of grapes were crushed, where they were grown and their price in dollars per ton in the state. This information is vital to tracking the industry, identifying trends and used for countless other purposes, according to experts who gathered today in Napa, Calif., for the 21st annual Vineyard Economics Seminar.

A foregone conclusion?
Karen Ross, California state secretary of agriculture, used the same description for the current administration’s recent budget proposal as some members of Congress including Republican lawmakers: “dead on arrival.”

Though this version of the budget is unlikely to pass as-is, Ross said the proposal suggests cuts to agriculture could be looming; she views the document as a troubling indicator of what could be removed or changed in the federal Farm Bill. “It eliminates so many things that matter for California,” she said.

Nat DiBuduo, president of the Allied Grape Growers, agreed. “We need the Crush Report,” he told seminar attendees.

Tony Correia, president of appraisal and consultancy firm The Correia Co., said everything needs to be done to ensure cuts don’t kill the report. “We need to keep that Grape Crush Report,” he said. “That’s valuable information for all of us.”

When asked if California could pick up the cost of compiling the report itself, Ross seemed doubtful. She said it’s possible some staff could be added to help, but it would need to receive much more support from a wider variety of crops for the state to publish it itself. Ross agreed on the value of the report as “it drives so many decisions” and was hopeful that there’s enough support in Washington, D.C., for California agriculture that the deepest cuts of the proposed budget will be avoided. “I’m hopeful,” she said. “We’ll have strong champions at the national level for that reporting.”

Budget cuts
The advocacy group WineAmerica released a statement noting the president’s proposal would eliminate all funding for the Specialty Crop Block Grant and Value Added Producer Grant programs. The two programs had received $68 million and $14 million in funding, respectively. Funding would also be eliminated for the Market Access Program that assists U.S. specialty crop producers in creating, expanding and maintaining access to foreign markets. The current funding level is $200 million, and WineAmerica notes wineries throughout the West Coast and New York have used the program to market their wines in foreign markets.

"A lot of farmers and growers rely on USDA's statistical capabilities to make a lot of marketing and risk-management decisions and planting decisions," said John Newton, American Farm Bureau Federation director of market intelligence, in a report by Reuters. 

Other departments and agencies marked for cuts greater than 20% in fiscal year 2018 include state and other international programs including Food for Peace Title II Grants (down 29.1%) and the Environmental Protection Agency (down 31.4%).

The Department of Homeland Security, Department of Veterans Affairs and parts of the Department of Defense and Energy Department are among the few agencies that would see a budget increase under the proposal.

The president’s proposed budget is in contrast with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s own 2018 budget, which contains only an 8% decrease in mandatory and discretionary funding. An Emergency Conservation Program is eliminated from the USDA’s 2018 budget for a savings of $103 million, and proposed salaries are $78 million below the 2017 estimate. 

Up in the air
Many speakers at the Vineyard Economics Seminar commented on how hard it’s become to try predict exactly what will happen in Washington D.C. “It absolutely is the most chaotic political and policy environment I have ever seen,” said the California Association of Winegrape Growers' John Aguirre.

Aguirre said he was happy to see the new president pledge to roll back the Waters of U.S. regulations, but the political scandals and partisanship means big issues like tax reform will be delayed, and he said the industry shouldn’t expect comprehensive immigration reform any time soon.

“A Republican Congress will not move on comprehensive immigration reform,” he said, adding there’s a possibility of some type of guest worker program but not until after the 2018 mid-term elections. “Nonetheless we are working on a solution on immigration for agriculture."