Pennsylvania fruit growers affected by April’s devastating freeze can now apply for grants through a new $10 million state disaster assistance program.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced the program during a visit Thursday to Three Springs Fruit Farm in Menallen Township, where the freeze destroyed an estimated half of the farm’s apple crop and sharply reduced its stone-fruit harvest.
Three Springs owner Ben Wenk said the April freeze was catastrophic for Adams County’s fruit-growing community.
“This year’s apple harvest has begun, but our harvest numbers are down significantly and we’ve had to reduce some of our staff,” Wenk said. “We know this freeze is going to have a ripple effect across the whole of our community.”
Wenk, a seventh-generation farmer whose family has operated Three Springs for nearly 200 years, said the farm normally wholesales about $7,000 worth of peaches each week during the season. This year, it has not sold that amount during the entire season.
He thanked state, local and federal officials for coordinating relief efforts, saying bad weather is part of agriculture but the April blossom freeze caused extraordinary damage.
The Fruit Grower Freeze Disaster Assistance Recovery Grant Program is open to growers who lost at least 30% of their expected production of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, grapes, berries and other eligible crops because of freezing temperatures between April 1 and April 21.
Applications opened Aug. 24 and will be accepted by mail or email through Sept. 21. Information and application instructions are available at bit.ly/4xJ9IKg.
State Rep. Dan Moul, Republican chairman of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, said he sponsored legislation to direct emergency funding toward crop losses and contacted Shapiro after the freeze struck the fruit belt running through Adams County.
“With teamwork and determination, we are now providing farmers with the assistance they need,” Moul said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also issued disaster designations covering 58 Pennsylvania counties. Eligible growers may apply for low-interest federal loans and receive expedited damage assessments needed to complete crop-insurance claims.
State agriculture officials estimate that Pennsylvania’s specialty-crop industry could suffer between $150 million and $200 million in losses. Some growers reported losing nearly their entire apple crop, along with serious damage to peaches, cherries, strawberries and grapes.