agriculture

Governor Seeks Agriculture Disaster Declaration From Federal Government

If approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farmers affected by the May 18 frost could be eligible for assistance.

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After a brief cold snap earlier this month that led to extensive crop damage, Governor Lamont is requesting an agriculture disaster declaration from the federal government.

If approved, the declaration could help farmers qualify for emergency assistance.

Meteorological Summer begins June 1, but it was only a few weeks ago that it felt like winter in Connecticut. On May 18, overnight temperatures in some parts of the state dipped below freezing, causing partial damage to a variety of crops around the state.

Woody Scott is 73 years old, and says he’s been farming for 50. Yet Scott says he has never seen a hard freeze, as late in the growing season as the one that happened May 18.

“This was the latest, coldest night that we had,” Scott said.

Scott, who owns Scott’s Orchard and Nursery in Glastonbury, is one the many Connecticut farmers who lost crops due the late spring freeze. He says some of his apples and blueberries were affected.

“We don’t know the exact amount of frost damage it was, but there was significant damage,” he said.

Trying to help farmers like Scott, Lamont is seeking the agriculture disaster declaration for all eight counties in the state.

“The disaster declaration is the first step that may open up multiple doors for farmers,” said Connecticut’s Commissioner of Agriculture Bryan Hurlburt.

Hurlburt said the damage could be in the millions of dollars. He explains that there is a threshold of a 30% of loss of a crop in each county to be eligible for the declaration. If approved, farmers could qualify for assistance such as emergency loans.

Hurlburt, says temperatures on the May18 were close to 20 degrees in some parts of the state, lasting for several hours. The affect impacting many crops.

“Grapes, blueberries, peaches, strawberries, pears, plums, apples, Christmas trees,” said Hurlburt, rattling off a list of crops that were affected.

Scott says he has insurance for this, and he was not impacted as severely as some other farms, but sees a need for assistance.

“I think this is probably a good time to assist farmers and particularly those who didn’t have insurance who lost their entire crops,” he said.

Adding to some farmer’s losses this year was another hard freeze in February. Scott tells us that freeze wiped out his entire peach crop. Not all is lost though, the state’s agriculture commissioner says there is still plenty of Connecticut fruit available and urges people to go Strawberries picking over the next couple weeks.

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