07/14/06 Disaster Relief

Disaster Relief. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Many farmers in Eastern Washington have seen most of their fruit crops destroyed by the freak hail storm that swept though the area recently. It will be some time before many of these growers get back on their feet again. Tons of apples, cherries and pears have been destroyed. Estimates have been quoted in the hundreds of million dollars of damage. Congressman Doc Hastings and Congresswoman Cathi McMorris are working on expediting disaster aide. HASTINGS: I have sent a letter along with Congresswoman Cathi McMorris whose district was heavily impacted in Okanagan County to the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary Johanns asking him to expedite whatever requests comes from the state and to look into other areas that they may be of assistance in this disaster area. Hastings is very aware of the financial situation that many farmers are in. HASTINGS: We will wait for the declaration to come from the state and respond but we have anticipated that coming and that's why Congresswoman McMorris and I have sent a letter to the secretary. Golfball-sized hail that swept across north-central Washington damaging tons of apples, cherries and pears. The loss is so great, some growers near Peshastin and Dryden among other places are left with no crops to harvest. Farmer Eldon Tall was very hard hit. TALL: The last several mornings it's honestly been very hard to get up because there's so much loss. Financially it's probably two hundred to two hundred fifty thousand dollars for my son and I. It's unclear at this point what kind of effect the damage will have on fruit prices at the grocery store. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.