By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — Frost and freeze damage doesn’t usually make big news, but it’s a big deal to growers. So it was, as well, when Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm last week requested federal disaster assistance for those who had to deal with it this spring.
Last week, Granholm officially requested federal disaster assistance from USDA Secretary Ed Schafer for growers in 55 Michigan counties who are facing fruit, vegetable and other frost-sensitive crop losses because of several severe frost and freezes. The request was based on 30 percent or more in losses in each county.

“This disaster declaration is a vital first step to ensuring that Michigan farmers have the additional resources they need to overcome these natural disasters,” Granholm said.

Growers, however, shouldn’t hold their collective breath waiting for help to arrive. It can take as long as two years for aid to make its way through the system to the producer, according to Phil Korson, president of the Cherry Marketing Institute. This aid request is just the first in a multi-step process.

“It’s not a foregone conclusion that it will be granted,” he said. “It can take time for it to come through.”

This year’s tart cherry crop in Michigan is 135 million pounds, compared to last year’s 193 million pounds. It’s the worst crop in Michigan since 2002, when the tart cherry harvest was a mere 15 million pounds.

That year, in turn, was the worst harvest for tart cherries in Michigan since 1938.

 “This is a pretty significant frost event,” Korson said. “The crop is just generally down across the board. You’ve got some growers with virtually none.”

The burden on fruit tree growers is they continue to have the same input costs no matter what the harvest is like. They still have to spray their trees just as they would any other year – otherwise, the leaves may fall off and cause the tree to die.

One bright spot for fruit tree growers is they have escaped the wrath of this year’s flooding since, according to Korson, most fruit trees are planted in hilly, well-drained soil. Some growers might have problems getting to their orchards because of the flooding, however.

If the disaster request is granted, eligible producers will have access to USDA Farm Service Agency low-interest emergency loans for up to 100 percent of their weather related agriculture production losses. For more information on the federal emergency farm loan programs, visit www.fsa.usda.gov