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By Myrna Trauntvein On May 15, Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order declaring ten counties in Utah would be in a 30-day state of emergency after frost damage destroyed crops. Juab is one of those counties. Other counties named that would be under the state of emergency were: Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Iron, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Utah and Weber. A record-warm March tricked fruit trees into early blooms, which were subsequently wiped out by brutal freezing temperatures in April, with some areas seeing losses ranging from 95 percent to 100 percent. On April 3, 4, 17, and 18, weather stations recorded temperatures below 26 degrees Fahrenheit for more than eight hours. As a result, crop production in many areas was affected. The governor said that there was a loss for apricots, sweet and tart cherries, plums, peaches, pears and apples. “Conditions this year have already deeply affected agricultural producers here in Utah,” Gov. Cox said. “Due to an unexpected freeze in April following unseasonably warm conditions, many are facing devastating crop losses. This is the time in the season when emergency resources have the best chance to make a real difference in our farmers’ ability to survive and recover.” The freeze is expected to affect agricultural producers, consumers, local markets and the seasonal workforce, creating a state of emergency under the Disaster Response and Recovery Act. “This also has impacted wheat producers and alfalfa producers, so we had those warm temperatures and so we had early blooms, early growth of those crops,” added Amber Brown, Deputy Commissioner at the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. “Then we had some freezing days, like three or four freezes in a row in April, and so you had all of those blooms, and the freeze just wiped them out.” Brown said her department talked to fruit producers and had found that this is the worst conditions seen since 2002. “They’re looking at a situation where they have to keep their trees alive and water them and spray them and take care of them, but they’re not going to have any fruit to sell, or some are going to have very little…not worthwhile to even harvest,” she said. However, the declaration will allow agricultural producers to access resources from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. “There might be emergency loan programs or deferment of payments on FSA loans if farmers have them, and then on the state side, our agency, the Department of Agriculture and Food, we have an emergency disaster loan program that this makes farmers eligible to apply for,” Brown said. While the State of Emergency is only in effect for 30 days, expiring mid-June, Brown says farmers can apply for the emergency disaster loan program for up to six months from the date of declaration. Each loan has zero interest for two years, and then 2.75 percent interest for five years after that. “The loans all go through our Utah Conservation Commission, so there’s an approval process, but it’s a much better situation than, you know, going out and getting a loan in the marketplace, and they can use those loan funds to pay for anything kind of associated with losses related to the disaster,” Brown says. The loans can help farmers stay in business or pay their employees while impacted by the crop losses and they may receive help within the next few months. “They work through what’s called the resource coordinator in their region of the state, and so the applications will be available soon, so they just kind of have to work out the details and apply for those loans,” Brown added, “Then our Conservation Commission is meeting in early June to vote on the final parameters, and then so we’ll get the loans out as fast as we can.”
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