Weather Damage

Weather Damage. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

While the rest of the nation is dealing with one of the severest drought’s in years the northwest has been blessed with plenty of rain. Plenty being the operative word. Heavy rains, wind and hail have created equally severe issues for fruit growers and according to Chris Bieker, APR Outreach Coordinator for USDA’s Farm Service Agency, the Ag Secretary has responded.

BIEKER: We encourage farmers to report any damage to the Farm Service Agency because if there has been a 30% loss or more in a county then a request can be made for a Secretarial Disaster Designation. Right now we’ve just heard from people in parts of the state that there has been damage both to crops and crop land.

There have been reports of damage from all over the state.

BIEKER: So far I’ve heard Yakima County...crops like corn and potatoes and grapes and mostly due to hail. And then we’ve heard that up in Ferry County and even some in Grant County and in the Walla Walla area just some erosion from massive rain and hail.

She says that they are trying to work with only a few programs.

BIEKER: We have very limited tools right now because of the 2008 Farm Bill disaster programs. Most of those have expired. However we do have a few tools available and the Secretary is trying to add as much flexibility to the tools that we have.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.