Governor Wants Federal Disaster Designation For Upstate New York

A sudden climate shift wiped out a foundational part of the state's economy overnight, and the fallout is growing.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to help residents who were greatly impacted by April's surprise frost.

Hochul Wants Disaster Designations For Hudson Valley, Capital Region, Central New York, Southern Tier, Western New York

Crops started to bloom in many parts of New York State in April, due to warmer-than-normal temperatures. That was followed by frost conditions in April 2026, which significantly impacted many fruit operations, including apple, stone fruit, grape, and strawberry growers.

Just before the expected frost, one local farmer told me he was hiring helicopters to save his peach crops.

Because of this, Hochul announced that New York State has requested the USDA to declare a Disaster Designation for counties in the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, Central New York, Southern Tier, and Western New York regions. Following an early bloom.

Farmers in those regions experienced an estimated loss of more than $30 million, according to Hochul's office.

Climate Change To Blame

“New York’s growers are second to none, and many have taken a significant hit, with some reporting upwards of a 100 percent loss of their crop and millions in economic loss,” Hochul stated. “This hardship follows a trend we are becoming all too familiar with — temperature swings that are indicative of our changing climate."

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A Disaster Designation would allow affected farmers to apply for USDA low-interest emergency loans.

According to Hochul's office, freezing temperatures that dipped below 23 degrees significantly damaged the primary and secondary fruiting buds and shoots of fruit crops, including apples, grapes, peaches, plums, cherries, pears, and strawberries across the regions, particularly those in higher elevations.

In addition, early vegetable crops like onions sustained damage. Growers lost 15 to 100 percent of their crops.

"Our fruit growers are taking the brunt of frost conditions that damaged already blooming buds and shoots. I urge the USDA to take swift action to declare a disaster designation for the impacted counties and help our growers get the assistance they need to recover and move forward," Hochul added.

The impacted counties include Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Erie, Greene, Niagara, Chautauqua, Onondaga, Orange, Putnam, Schuyler, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester and Yates. Contiguous counties include Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Delaware, Erie, Madison, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Seneca, Steuben, Tompkins and Wayne.

1st Frost Dates In New York