{"id":188058,"date":"2026-05-09T13:47:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T13:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/188058\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T13:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T13:47:17","slug":"shapiro-calls-for-state-and-federal-aid-for-farmers-after-frost-reduces-fruit-crops-across-pa-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/188058\/","title":{"rendered":"Shapiro calls for state and federal aid for farmers after frost reduces fruit crops across Pa. | Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pennsylvania specialty crop farmers will likely see losses of $150 million to $200 million after an early spring cold snap damaged crops across the state<\/a> April 21, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Friday morning during a visit to Cherry Hill Orchards in Pequea Township.<\/p>\n

The trip came weeks after Lancaster County growers of apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, strawberries and other crops saw devastating damage caused by a late frost.<\/p>\n

Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, said Friday he has virtually no apples or peaches to sell now and won\u2019t see revenue from those fruit trees until fall 2027, even though he has to continue paying for pruning, labor and dealing with pesky bugs to make sure his plants survive for next year.<\/p>\n


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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, left, talks with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, right, and Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding in an apple orchard at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, talks with farmers at Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, left, talks with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, right, and\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding in an apple orchard at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, right, talks with a farmer about losses due to the freeze in April while touring Cherry Hill Orchards in Pequea Township on Friday, May 8, 2026. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding is in the background, center.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards in Pequea Township, left, talks with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, center, and\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding in an apple orchard at Cherry Hill on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, left, stands with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, as Shapiro talks with farmers at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, center, talks stands beside Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, and\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding during a news conference at at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania Gov, Josh Shapiro, left, stands with\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding as Redding speaks at Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, left, stands with Gov. Josh Shapiro as Shapiro speaks at Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, left, talks with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, right, and Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding in an apple orchard at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, talks with farmers at Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, left, talks with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, right, and\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding in an apple orchard at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, right, talks with a farmer about losses due to the freeze in April while touring Cherry Hill Orchards in Pequea Township on Friday, May 8, 2026. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding is in the background, center.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards in Pequea Township, left, talks with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, center, and\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding in an apple orchard at Cherry Hill on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, left, stands with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, as Shapiro talks with farmers at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Corey McCleaf, owner of Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, center, talks stands beside Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, and\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding during a news conference at at Cherry Hill Orchards on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania Gov, Josh Shapiro, left, stands with\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding as Redding speaks at Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township, on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Pennsylvania\u00a0Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, left, stands with Gov. Josh Shapiro as Shapiro speaks at Cherry Hill Orchards, in Pequea Township on Friday, May 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

He is not alone in that problem, according to state Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding. Growers across the Mid-Atlantic are suffering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not limited to Pennsylvania. This is from the Shenandoah to the Hudson valleys,\u201d Redding said.<\/p>\n

Lancaster County ranks fourth in Pennsylvania \u2014 behind Adams, Erie and Franklin counties \u2014 for fruit and berry production, according to the 2022 agricultural census. Its fruit industry generates more than $13 million in annual sales. The census is conducted every five years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.<\/p>\n

Shapiro said he has already submitted a letter asking Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, to approve emergency funding to support Pennsylvania farmers through a USDA disaster declaration. If a loss assessment shows Pennsylvania has suffered at least a 30% loss of at least one crop, the USDA may make growers eligible for low-interest emergency loans.<\/p>\n

Redding could not provide a timeline for when farmers would receive those loans, or how much the loans would cover. But he said he was confident Pennsylvania growers in the disaster area would be eligible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that we\u2019ve seen and have heard shows a 70 to 80 to 90 to 100% loss,\u201d Redding said.<\/p>\n

Next steps<\/p>\n

Aside from asking for federal emergency dollars, Shapiro said he also plans to work with the USDA Risk Management Agency to negotiate better crop insurance options for affected farmers and ask for support from the Pennsylvania Legislature.<\/p>\n

Redding and Shapiro said members of his administration would meet with the RMA next week in an attempt to get flexibility on crop insurance that would incentivize farmers to harvest the crops they have while getting them through a year without a paycheck.<\/p>\n

As for state-level support, Shapiro said he planned to submit language to the Legislature on Friday afternoon to allow dollars from the $75 million Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Recovery Fund to also assist farmers hurt by the April freeze.<\/p>\n

The state Senate and House of Representatives would have to agree to make those dollars, originally allocated to support poultry farmers impacted by bird flu, flexible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident we\u2019ll be able to get bipartisan consensus on that,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania Sen. James Malone and Pennsylvania Sen. Judy Schwank, both Democratic members of the state Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee, voiced support for the action Friday.<\/p>\n

Either way, Shapiro urged farmers to seek insurance dollars from their respective agriculture insurance agencies, since it will be difficult to fully compensate Pennsylvania farmers considering the scale of losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will not be one fund that covers 100% of the cost, but hopefully we can cobble these different resources together to help. I think it\u2019s safe to say we will not be able to make up dollar-for-dollar losses, but we will do everything in our power to help sustain these farmers,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

McCleaf, who has crop insurance, said he knows his insurance won\u2019t be a full fix.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a Band-Aid. It\u2019s all right if you still have some fruit, but man, if you don\u2019t have any fruit \u2026,\u201d McCleaf said.<\/p>\n

Beyond Lancaster County<\/p>\n

The ripple effects of a freeze that kills large swaths of crops extend beyond the grower. Farmers, packers and elected officials Friday said farm labor forces and the packing and processing industries across the state also will be affected.<\/p>\n

Some farmers had time to cancel their H-2A contracts \u2014 which allow U.S. employers who meet certain requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs \u2014 after the freeze. But representatives with Cherry Hill Orchards said they already spent $6,000 to $7,000 on a contract for laborers who won\u2019t be able to do their jobs as originally planned.<\/p>\n

Ben Rice, president of Rice Fruit Co. in Adams County, said his packing business doesn\u2019t have crop insurance, which leads to a gap in coverage when his revenue is directly tied to the volume of now-damaged crops that comes in.<\/p>\n

Plus, he said he worries about states unaffected by the freeze swooping in to take up spots at markets and grocery stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shelf space, it would be very hard to get back,\u201d Rice said.<\/p>\n

Mark Boyer, owner of Ridgetop Orchards in Bedford County, said financial support from the USDA can take between a year to two years to actually get to growers. In the meantime, he said he\u2019s coping with the uncertainty by hanging out with his three sons and coaching baseball. In the April freeze, Boyer\u2019s orchard suffered a 95% loss, losing all his cherries and peaches, as it was hit by some of the coldest temperatures recorded in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had to cut a lot of employment. We\u2019re running just a really tight ship,\u201d Boyer said.<\/p>\n

Ben Wenk of Three Springs Fruit Farm in Adams County, which also makes an alcoholic cider brand that sells to some Lancaster County vendors and restaurants, said despite his diversified revenue stream, this is still uncharted territory. He said he won\u2019t be able to capitalize on his seasonal peaches, which drives his supply to regional markets.<\/p>\n

Ed Weaver, owner of Weaver\u2019s Orchard in Berks County, is now looking for new opportunities after significant losses, such as planting more strawberries, planting more flowers for a cut flower operation, preparing to grow more pumpkins and planning more experiential events.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all to keep our business on the radar,\u201d Weaver said<\/p>\n

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