Washington | For decades, interests as diverse as North Carolina strawberry growers, Florida citrus farmers and California wine grape growers had little interest in the farm bill that Congress passes every five years.

As long as growers of the big five subsidy crops - corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybeans - didn't receive subsidies for growing fruits and vegetables, specialty crop growers stayed quiet on perennial agriculture legislation.

Now fruit and vegetable farmers from Maine blueberry growers to California wine grape growers have plenty to cheer: $2.5 billion for specialty crop research and promotion and school nutrition programs.

The money is part of the five-year $300 billion farm bill that congressional negotiators finished Thursday and could face House and Senate votes as early as this week.

"For the first time in the history of American agriculture policy, there's a whole section of the farm bill solely dedicated to fruits and vegetables," said Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., a member of the committee negotiating the differences between the House and Senate versions.

The influx of money is designed to mean more and better-looking U.S.-grown fruits and vegetables in produce aisles here and abroad, and more fruits and veggies on American school-lunch plates.

The inclusion of specialty crops in the farm bill was years in the making and came after more than 100 grower groups representing everything from figs to herbs to pistachios formed an alliance and poured millions of dollars into lobbying Congress.

In 2007 alone, 24 member groups of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance spent nearly $2.8 million lobbying Congress on specialty crops and other agricultural issues, according to reports filed with the Senate Office of Public Records and provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

"After 50 years of being shut out of farm bills, they got the ticket that they that they could accomplish more together than they could separately," said Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., chairman of the House Republican Conference and a member of the farm bill negotiating committee.

Fruit and vegetable growers would not receive subsidies under the legislation. Rather, growers would be eligible for grants administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agriculture departments to help growers fight pests and disease, facilitate trade and market U.S. fruits and vegetables worldwide, and conserve land.

Other money would go toward bolstering school food programs with locally grown fruits and vegetables.

In North Carolina, the specialty crop provisions could mean schoolchildren eating just-picked strawberries in the east or apples in the west.

In Florida, it could mean bolstering U.S. exports of oranges and orange juice to foreign markets such as Japan and South Korea.

And in California, it could mean funding research on how wine grapes can withstand climate change.

Washington lobbyists from the National Potato Council, Florida Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, and Western Growers started the alliance well before work on the farm bill began.

"We started two and a half years ago trying to bring together what is a very diverse group - your blueberry growers in Maine to your carrot and celery growers in central California," said John Keeling, who lobbies for the National Potato Council. "Everyone had to leave their particular parochial interests at the door."

In addition to the lobbying, two other factors contributed to the change in public policy on fruits and vegetables.

A climate against earmarks - taxpayer money dedicated to specific parochial projects - swept Capitol Hill in the wake of several lobbying scandals unrelated to agriculture policy.

"That environment certainly helped us," Keeling said.

For years, specialty crop growers who wanted federal funding for research or marketing cajoled Congress for earmarks, which face increased scrutiny on Capitol Hill and are not as free flowing as they once were because of the federal budget deficit.

Geography also contributed to the policy shift. Every member of Congress has a specialty crop grown in his or her district.

"In every state, we had a specialty crop aligned with the initiative," said Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers in Sacramento.

Final votes on the farm bill are expected this week. President George W. Bush has signaled opposition to the bill, but White House officials stopped short of threatening a veto, The Associated Press reported.

It is unclear whether there are enough votes to override a veto.

"The margins are very, very thin," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for United Fresh Produce Association.

"They are going to need every vote they can get."