Federal Help for Grape Growers

ALBANY – Senator Catharine Young (R,C,I – Olean) today announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties as Ag-disaster areas after an unseasonal frost severely damaged vineyard crops in the Lake Erie Region in May.

In June, Sen. Young met with area grape growers including the operators of Fisk Farm in Dunkirk, who had damage done to 65 acres out of the 150 the farm owns and maintains. She vowed to help and wrote a letter to Governor Paterson asking for the disaster declaration.

“The weather was unexpected and came late in the year. It caused millions of dollars in losses for area grape growers, who had to work through the night to try and salvage any of the crop they could. I applaud the USDA for taking swift action to address some of the huge losses incurred in New York’s grape belt,” Sen. Young said.

From May 16, 2009 through May 26, 2009, temperatures in the Lake Erie Region dropped to between 25 degrees F and 29 degrees F, affecting vineyards ranging from Erie County, PA all the way to Niagara County, NY.

Sen. Young said estimated crop loss to grape growers in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties ranged from 25 to 35 percent. Eighteen other affected counties, including Erie, Niagara and Wyoming, were also named in the USDA declaration.

All qualified farm operators in the designated areas are now eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have until April 21, 2010 to apply for loans to help cover part of their losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=landing.

The location for the Jamestown Service Center is: 3542 Turner Rd., Jamestown, NY 14701-9608. The phone number is (716) 664-2351.

The Cattaraugus County Service Center in Ellicottville is located at 8 Martha St., Ellicottville, NY 14731. The phone number is (716) 699-2326.

New York is the third largest wine producer in the United States and attracts over 4 million tourists annually. The total economic benefit to the state last year from New York grapes, grape juice and wine was $3.4 billion.

Pictured, Senator Young visiting the Fisk Farm in June.
(Photo courtesy of Senator Young's office)