Senators call on USDA to quickly approve needed aid to farmers as harvest season begins – troyrecord

Saratoga Apple Orchard’s storefront. (FILE PHOTO)

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to quickly approve emergency federal funds for 31 counties across upstate New York.

The senators said the NYS FSA request for Secretarial Disaster Designation includes Albany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Columbia, Cortland, Dutchess, Greene, Jefferson, Onondaga, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Washington, Wayne and Westchester and Yates. 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.

The New York State Farm Service Agency (NYS FSA) is now officially requesting a federal Agricultural Disaster Designation following this past May’s deep freeze.

“Upstate New York’s vineyards and orchards are the beating heart of our agricultural and tourism economy, but now as harvest season begins we are beginning to see the severe impacts of this past May’s deep freeze,” Schumer said in a news release from his office. “From the Finger Lakes to the Hudson Valley, Capital Region to the Southern Tier, many of our family-owned farms lost a majority of their crop for grapes, apples, blueberries, and other fruits that are vital to our agricultural and tourist economy and they need relief now.”

“With New York’s disaster application now submitted for 31 counties – exactly half of the counties in the state – I am urging the USDA to swiftly provide the vineyards, orchards, and farms now facing detrimental damage with a Secretarial Disaster Designation to unlock emergency relief funds. We can’t leave New York’s beautiful orchards and renowned wine country out in the cold right as harvest season begins. The USDA must do everything in their power to provide swift relief to our hardworking growers and I will keep fighting to deliver that support.”

“With farmers still suffering from the staggering crop losses from the May freeze, it is imperative USDA expeditiously approve a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for the 31 impacted counties,” Gillibrand added in the news release. “I will continue to fight for our farmers to get the assistance they need.”

Schumer and Gillibrand said the severe cold temperature and frost in May resulted in significant crop losses for several types of fruit, including grapes, apples, strawberries, peaches, pears, plums, blueberries, apricots, cherries, cranberries across the state, and flower and hay damage in certain areas. 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.

According to the news release, grapes and apples were hit especially hard, with vineyards across New York reporting losses ranging from 5 to 100 percent. Several farmers in the Finger Lakes region said this year’s frost was ‘the worst they had ever seen,’ with almost every single vineyard in the region sustaining at least some damage.

After the weather in May, Schumer and Gillibrand began “sounding the alarm” on the potential need for relief for upstate growers as they began to tally the damage, writing the Secretary of Agriculture personally urging them to stand ready and begin working with growers. Now, the New York State Farm Service Agency (FSA) Director has officially requested a USDA’s Secretarial Disaster Declaration. 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 (SED).

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.