Feds announce weather-linked disaster designations
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 28 New York counties as natural disaster areas due to crop losses caused by frost and freezes that began March 1.
The counties span the state from the Vermont border to Buffalo and in the lower Hudson Valley and Catskills.
The USDA also has designated Orange and Rockland counties as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by frosts and freezes, high winds and hail that occurred March 26 to April 30.
Three counties in western New York — Allegany, Wayne and Wyoming — were designated natural disaster areas due to losses caused by both frost and excessive heat between March 1 and April 30.
And Tompkins County was designated a disaster area due to losses caused by excessive snow and freezes between April 1 and April 30.
The designations make farmers eligible for low-interest loans and other recovery programs.
