A crop disaster declaration in Solano County has opened federal benefits to grapegrowers in Napa County who were hit hard by last year’s weird, wet weather, but it’s questionable if any will apply.
The aid became available to growers in a six-county region after the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared Solano County a crop disaster area last fall, based on prune, grape and olive losses from springtime frost and rains in 2011.
No farmers have received low-interest emergency loans from the federal Farm Service Agency, according to the agency’s regional office in Davis.
The FSA began offering the special loans in November to growers who lost crops due to unusual weather conditions between April and September.
Unfavorable weather, including heavy rains during the setting of grapes in May and early June, helped reduce the Napa Valley harvest by 12 percent, to 121,137 tons.
But Stuart Smith of Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery in the Spring Mountain District said the idea of seeking federal aid has received little discussion among his peers thus far.
In addition, the federal disaster declaration’s September cutoff would leave the program useless to grapegrowers who suffered more from rains during the end of the season rather than the beginning, he said.
“The problem is with the (federal) fiscal year cutoff, because the really damaging rains came in October, not September,” said Smith.
“Cramming a square peg down a round hole is always the issue with these federal programs,” he said. “If this is a lifeline to some farmers (elsewhere), then more power to them. I just don’t know how many people in the valley will avail themselves of it.”
Growers can borrow up to $500,000 to replace property, cover production costs from the year of disaster, pay living expenses and refinance certain debts. The low-interest loans also are available to those who have lost at least 30 percent of their crop output, livestock or real estate, records show.
However, borrowers in the FSA program must meet conditions for crop insurance, keeping farm records, and developing a farm plan with agency staff.
Such requirements and the resulting paperwork have likely kept the number of aid applications down, according to Dave Whitmer, Napa County agriculture commissioner.
“The process is so arduous that most farmers don’t want to go through it,” he said Wednesday.
Twelve people applied for the loans in Solano and five adjacent counties. It was not yet clear whether any of the applicants were based in Napa County, according to Paul Lehman, spokesman for the FSA office in Davis.
Source - http://napavalleyregister.com/