Chautauqua County farmers experienced over 30% loss of grapes and strawberry crops this year following May’s deep freeze.
IMAGE BY MATTHEW SPACCARELLI
New York State Farm Service Agency is now officially requesting a federal Agricultural Disaster Designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are also calling on the USDA to quickly approve emergency federal funds for 31 counties, including Chautauqua and Cattaraugus, affected by the freeze.
They said these areas suffered major crop damage from the extreme cold weather destroying thousands of acres of grapes, apples, strawberries, blueberries, and other fruits, and that with harvest season just beginning it is vital that USDA provide relief to farmers who suffered severe crop loss.
According to the National Weather Service, New York had multiple dates where the temperature dropped below freezing between May 14th and May 25th, but the time period that caused the most widespread damage happened overnight from May 17th to May 18th. These freezing temperatures caused severe frost damage to multiple crops across the majority of the state, however grapes and apples were hit the hardest. The frost caused major damage to grape vines which prevented many from producing grapes this year.
USDA Secretarial disaster designations must be requested of the Secretary of Agriculture by a governor or the governor’s authorized representative, by an Indian Tribal Council leader or by an FSA State Executive Director.
If the USDA Secretary approves the application, it will make critical relief available including low-interest “FSA Emergency Loans” (“EM Loans) to impacted growers in the designated counties. In that case, impacted NY producers would be able to borrow up to 100 percent of the actual amount of production or physical losses to a maximum amount of $500,000.
According to Empire State Development, New York State is the third-largest producer of grapes, grape juice and wine in the United States. In addition, the state is the second-largest producer of apples in the country. These crops make a significant contribution to the state’s agricultural economy and support many local businesses and jobs, employing close to 100,000 New Yorkers and producing $11.5 billion worth of economic impact annually.
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