Some more FACTS for gore to grit his teeth about.
Grape Damage From Frost Widespread in U.S.
By CAROLYN THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FARM_SCENE?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-05-25-03-37-42 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- A late-April frost devastated young buds on grape vines in several western New York counties and beyond, challenging growers who had been hoping to rebound from a small crop last year.
"It was 24 degrees. That's just too cold," said grower Dennis Rak.
The National Grape Cooperative, which owns Welch's, estimated its New York state growers lost 30-33 percent of their grapes.
Rak suffered severe losses on about 75 acres of the 250 acres he grows in hard hit Chautauqua County in southwestern New York. On those vines, half to three-quarters of primary buds were lost, he said.
He said the frost came after growers had already incurred the expense of pruning row upon row of vines.
"At the point they were damaged they were just starting to swell and be open," said Rak.
The same frost painted an even bleaker picture for cooperative members in other states: Losses were estimated at 90 percent in Michigan and 75 percent in Ohio, said Jay Hardenburg, the cooperative's Eastern Region manager of member relations.
The cooperative is comprised of about 1,350 growers in New York, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Ontario. They supply all of the grapes Welch's uses for its juice, jams and jellies.
"The consumers are not likely to see any effect as far as the finished product," Hardenburg said. "Unfortunately, the farmers will bear the vast majority of the economic loss."
In Michigan, for example, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm on Wednesday requested federal disaster assistance for the state's fruit and vegetable farmers hit by recent frost and freezing temperatures in 28 counties.
In New York, Gov. George Pataki and members of New York's congressional delegation are pursuing federal disaster assistance to keep growers on their feet, some of whom will have little to harvest in the fall.
New York, with 31,000 acres of vineyards and 1,384 grape farms, is the nation's third largest grape grower behind California and Washington.
Coming after an unusually small grape harvest last year, the frost was particularly devastating.
"This spring's freeze damage is likely to force some affected vineyard operations out of business, while others will increase borrowed capital, which is already limited," said a May 19 letter from 29 members of New York's congressional delegation to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns.
The letter, which asked for USDA disaster assistance, estimated losses of more than $9.1 million for 200 grape producers on 6,400 acres in four New York counties.
Pataki on May 13 asked Johanns to designate three of those counties as agricultural disaster areas to make low-interest emergency loans available to farmers. Combined, the counties produce more than half of the state's grape crop.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture & Markets said growers elsewhere in the state, including the Finger Lakes and Long Island, escaped severe frost damage but an abundance of wet and cool weather could increase the likelihood of disease and fungus.
"It's not necessarily going to impact production, but they could require farmers to spend a little more time or resources in the vineyard trying to treat these things," Jessica Chittenden said.
