The Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced the availability of Marketing Assistance for Specialty Crops (MASC), which will provide eligible specialty crop producers with marketing assistance payments that will help them engage in activities that aid in expanding domestic specialty crop markets or in developing new markets for their specialty crops. In response to economic and health-based factors, USDA will use section 5(e) of the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Charter Act (7 U.S.C. 714c(e)) to make payments to eligible producers in order to increase consumption of specialty crops by aiding expansion of domestic markets or aiding in the development of new and additional markets.