SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The recently passed Pennsylvania State Budget includes relief for farmers impacted by the late-April frost.
$10,000,000 of the state budget is going to those farmers. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding discussed the Freeze Disaster Assistance Recovery Grant Program during a visit to Centre County on Wednesday.
“We now have $10,000,000 that came through what we saw, right? The governor’s response, the bipartisan support, and then a budget. Now we’ve got to get at it to make sure we get the dollars out to these growers,” Secretary Redding stated.
The funding is set to help fruit growers recover from crop losses. Heller Orchards is one of thousands of farmers impacted by the frost. 28/22 News caught up with Andrea Heller at the Scranton Farmer’s Market.
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“We lost most of our peaches, apricots, nectarines. You know, we were able to salvage some, but not what we would like. But the good news is we have apples and apples will prevail,” Heller explained.
Heller says the issue is impacting fruit growers across the state. She says the funding is desperately needed.
“You still have to be in the field, and you have your labor bills, and you still have every single bill that you would have with a full crop, and things still need to get paid, and you still have to work every single day,” Heller noted.
There is no estimate on how much each orchard will get.
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