Washington D.C. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a federal agriculture disaster declaration for New York Counties that experienced crop damage as a result of a spring freeze.
Last week, Senator Gillibrand called on the USDA to help farmers recover losses and stay afloat this season.
“Farmers across New York who were still recovering from last year’s natural disasters risk losing an entire season worth of crops again,” Senator Gillibrand said.
After a winter of record high temperatures, many crops on New York farms blossomed earlier than usual. Many of these crops were then exposed to early spring freezing temperatures, and were destroyed as a result.
Across the state, more than 3 million acres of farmland have experienced a 30 percent loss or greater, while many farms suffered 100 percent losses, including farms that were still struggling to recover from the damage of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
Disaster declaration for the primary counties of Albany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Columbia, Dutchess, Erie, Fulton, Greene, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Niagara, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Ulster, Washington and Yates.
Benefits are also available for the contiguous counties of Allegany, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Genesee, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Livingston, Oneida, Otsego, Putnam, Schenectady, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Warren, Wayne and Wyoming.
