Senator Clinton visits hail-ravaged orchard
Story and photo by Beth Hoad

Wednesday afternoon, Maple Ridge Farms/Apple Shed near Fairville hosted Senator Hillary Clinton in discussions with ten area fruit and vegetable growers regarding devastating damage caused by a widespread hailstorm that ravaged New York State two weeks prior.

Pictured are Phil Wagner, President of The Wayne County Farm Bureau, seated beside Senator Clinton. At right is Gary Wells, who owns the Apple Shed and the farm.

Wells said he and other growers were convinced that Senator Clinton should see the damage first-hand, which State Agricultural Commissioner Pat Hooker witnessed on his visit June 18.

Although Wells's farm had less damage than some it was still significant. 'Our fresh fruit is pretty much gone,' he said.

With the difference between $40 per 20-bushel bin for juice apples compared to $150 to $250 if sold as fresh fruit and the premium apple Honeycrisp selling for as much as $500 on the fresh market, producers stand to lose significant money on any crop they might salvage.

Wells said fruit grown specifically for the fresh market is more costly to produce than processing or juice apples. In addition, apples and other fruit harvested for sale as fresh are hand picked and sorted, which is a very labor-intensive process.

Migrant laborers who would normally be employed for that job will likely not find work in Wayne County this year as well.

Clinton was also scheduled for an event regarding the Farm to Fork program at Red Jacket Farms in Ontario County.

'We wanted to take advantage of her being in the area to show her just what were dealing with here in Wayne County,' said Wells.

Jim Allen, of New York State Apple Growers Association, said the new federal farm bill is still being written. Clauses for specialty crop disaster aid would be included as well as for larger grain and soybean commodities such as are grown in the mid-western area suffering recent flood damage.

'Senator Clinton has always been supportive of New York agriculture and we hope she will carry our message to Washington about all commodities being included,' said Allen.

Allen said it would be difficult to determine the total extent of the damage until later on towards harvest season.

top of page

Copyright © 2008
Courier-Gazette, 613 S. Main St. Newark, N.Y. 14513 - 315-331-1000
All Rights Reserved