Freeze damage to Georgia peaches prompts ‘disaster’

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared 18 Georgia counties natural disaster areas due to damage to the state’s peach crop and other commodities caused by March freezes.

The declaration will allow the USDA’s Farm Service Agency to extend emergency credit to Georgia farmers.

“I’m grateful to USDA Secretary [Tom] Vilsack for recognizing the importance of delivering much-needed relief to Georgia farmers following the untimely freezes in March,” state Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper said Tuesday.

“Since the freeze, we’ve worked with our farmers and producers to ensure USDA clearly understood the severity of the situation and the needs of those impacted by the freeze. Georgia peaches are a symbol of the success of our state’s No.-1 industry, and this much-needed relief will help farmers and producers bounce back better than before.”

The 18 counties listed in the disaster declaration – primarily in North and Middle Georgia – include Banks, Crawford, Fannin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Jackson, Johnson, Macon, Madison, Meriwether, Monroe, Peach, Pike, Taylor, Towns, Union and Upson.

Farmers in the following 38 contiguous counties also are eligible for assistance: Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Clarke, Coweta, Dawson, Dooly, Elbert, Emanuel, Forsyth, Franklin, Gordon, Gwinnett, Harris, Hart, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Lumpkin, Marion, Murray, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Pickens, Rabun, Schley, Spalding, Stephens, Sumter, Talbot, Treutlen, Troup, Washington, White and Wilkinson.

USDA loans can be used for a variety of recovery requirements including replacing farm equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farm operation, or to refinance specific loans. The Farm Service Agency reviews all loans based on the extent of losses, available security and ability to repay.

One local staple is Jaemor Farms in Alto. Drew Echols, farm manager, says that they will more than likely not need to apply for the loans provided by the USDA.

“We’ve been fortunate that we’re very diversified,” Echols said. “Some of the farms will need to take a loan out. For us, right this minute, we’re looking at it, but we’re probably not going to take one of those loans. … We’re currently working on pumpkins and other summer vegetable stuff. I mean, it is what it is. I would love to have that peach money, but I don’t, so here we are.”

Steven Patrick, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent of Habersham County’s University of Georgia Extension, had some expertise to offer on the matter.

“We had an early fall freeze, a hard December freeze and a late spring freeze. All three caused damage,” Patrick said. “Many fruit crops will either not make, or fall off just prior to ripening, causing a partial or total loss. … Cool damage takes time to manifest sometimes since it’s damage to sensitive tissue that takes time to heal, other times it kills the plant outright.”

Declaring a natural disaster area is the first step in getting farms the resources that they need to recuperate some of the losses experienced by freezes throughout the year.

“That’s the first step in the process of, you know, the federal government trying to help with this deal is that they have to declare it. It’s just like, you can’t say, ‘Alright, we’re gonna help these peach guys.’ It doesn’t work like that. They have to actually declare it a state of emergency, however they word it. So that’s the first step. Initially what it did, there are some loans out there with the Farm Service Agency, so every state has a Farm Service Agency and it’s part of the USDA. There’s money that’s allotted for the FSA to give farmers low interest loans. And you can’t qualify for these loans unless you’re in some area that is declared a natural disaster, or, you know, a state of emergency.”

As this is just a stepping stone in getting farmers the help they need, Echols has hopes for the future and how farmers will receive assistance.

“The hope is that by starting that declaration of state of emergency, natural disaster, that maybe, you know, a month from now, there may be some federal money that subsidizes our insurance programs. That is not in ink, that is not, I don’t even know that that’s in conversations yet. But I do know historically that you kind of have to start somewhere, right? You have to start with the declaration, then it goes to the loans, because those loans and that money was already set aside. The federal government already had that money set aside. So that money is the fastest, the most available money to these farms,” Echols said.

The application deadline is Feb. 26 of next year.