The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service building in Wapato, Washington, is illuminated with greenhouse lights. Although this facility is just 24 years old, ARS scientists have been stationed in the Yakima Valley for 100 years. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service building in Wapato, Washington, is illuminated with greenhouse lights. Congress recently approved funding for a new tree fruit entomologist position here. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

The $1.7 trillion federal funding bill passed right before Christmas includes a couple of tree fruit nuggets.

The omnibus bill includes an increase of $1 million for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, said the Northwest Horticultural Council. The funding will pay for a tree fruit entomologist position in Wapato, Washington, that has been vacant since 2019 and a new tree fruit pathologist position in Hood River, Oregon.

Senator Patty Murray, D-Seattle, helped secure the funding, the Horticultural Council said.

The measure — which includes everything from U.S. defense spending to Ukranian aid — did not include a farm labor reform bill that a bi-partisan group of lawmakers, with the support of the fruit industry and labor advocates, tried to include in mid-December.