Overview
- An unusual mid‑April sequence of extreme heat followed by hard freezes damaged blossoms and young fruit, with temperatures plunging during the April 19–22 freeze that hit crops at a vulnerable flowering stage.
- Governor Mikie Sherrill declared a statewide emergency and on Wednesday formally requested a USDA Secretarial Disaster Designation to make federal aid available for affected farms.
- State damage assessments put New Jersey losses at at least $300 million, while Pennsylvania has earlier estimated up to $200 million; individual growers report catastrophic losses of 90% or more and some expect total loss of specific harvests.
- The emergency order lets state agencies waive or change rules to speed help and relies on Farm Service Agency county committee assessments because a roughly 30% crop‑loss threshold is needed to qualify for federal programs.
- Farmers face season‑ending losses for peaches, apples, cherries, berries and grapes, which could strain local farm incomes, processing work and summer fruit supplies and push prices higher unless federal aid and recovery steps arrive quickly.