[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4622-S4623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Agricultural Disaster Relief

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I come to the floor today to discuss 
the urgent need for Congress to provide relief for recent agricultural 
disasters.
  I appreciate that circumstances around the appropriations process 
have changed somewhat since we prepared these remarks, but what I 
really want to do this afternoon is to highlight the devastating 
experiences of New Hampshire growers this year and explain why it is so 
urgent for them that Congress provide disaster relief.
  In New Hampshire, our growers have faced an unprecedented difficult 
year. A late frost on the evening of May 18 caused enormous damage to 
fruit crops across New Hampshire but especially to our apple orchards.
  These photos really depict what happened to most of the apple crops 
in New Hampshire. You can see that these almost look like chestnuts as 
they are so small and stunted and brown. In this, you can barely make 
out that it is an apple, and you can see the size of them based on the 
impact from the frost.
  This event followed an extreme freeze in February that wiped out 
virtually 100 percent of our peach crops and other stone fruits.
  My office has been hearing from apple growers who lost 80 to 100 
percent of their crops this year as well as from New Hampshire growers 
who lost up to 100 percent of other crops, such as peaches, pears, 
plums, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, and cherries.
  For people who think ``Well, you don't have that many orchards in New 
Hampshire,'' we have the largest apple orchard of New England in New 
Hampshire.
  This is a big concern for our farmers in the State, and they make up 
a considerable percentage of our small businesses. What we have seen is 
total crop losses for some growers and near-total losses for others.
  The business impact of such catastrophic damage goes way beyond the 
direct cost of damage to the crops because, in New Hampshire, we have a 
strong tradition, as I know they do in other States, of families who 
visit their local orchards every year to ``pick your own'' apples and 
other fruit. For local farms, these visits aren't just about that 
actual apple picking; it is an opportunity to showcase everything their 
farms have to offer, to display other products for families to 
purchase--vegetables that have grown during the season, baked goods, 
apple cider, applesauce. Everything that can be made from apples is 
available at those farm stands.
  Apple picking marks the start of autumn in New Hampshire. We are 
currently well into September and what should be apple-picking season. 
This past weekend should have seen busy crowds at farms across New 
Hampshire, with families apple picking, eating cider doughnuts, and 
sipping apple cider, but, sadly, this was not the case.
  I heard from growers like Trevor Hardy from Brookdale Fruit Farm in 
Hollis, who called his counterparts at Meadow Ledge Farm in Loudon, at 
Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon, and other orchards to learn that it 
wasn't just his farm that lacked the usual bustling energy of children 
and families on the farm. Local growers across the State, like Windy 
Ridge Orchard in North Haverhill, are concerned that families won't 
come this season for their annual farm visits, and the total resulting 
revenue losses will be enormous.
  For a lot of families--and my family is no exception--going to the 
local pick-your-own orchard to get whether it be apples or pumpkins or 
vegetables is an annual event. My daughter and her four children have 
had pictures taken in the pumpkin patch in the nearby farm every year 
that those kids have been home.
  I had a chance to meet with a number of farmers last Friday. One of 
the things they talked about was the concern that they have longtime 
customers who are not going to be able to enjoy their farms this year 
because of the impact from the frost. New Hampshire growers are 
estimated to be facing as much as $20 million in disaster-related 
impacts from these freeze events. This estimate doesn't even include 
the ongoing impacts to vegetable growers and forage crops from flooding 
and excessive moisture. The total cost for that is still being 
tabulated.
  This is the Brookdale Fruit Farm, which is the biggest orchard in New 
Hampshire. It is in Hollis. It is the biggest orchard in New England. 
We can see this is a rainstorm that happened about 2 weeks ago, and you 
can just see the water cascading through the orchard because of the 
flooding. The impact that this is having on next year's crop, on 
vegetables, is really still being tabulated but is excessive across the 
State.
  I am hearing from longtime New Hampshire growers that they have never 
seen crop damage this bad before. Last week, when I visited with 
farmers, I went to Apple Hill Farm in Concord along with a number of 
apple growers from different regions in the State. Chuck and Diane 
Souther, who own Apple Hill Farm, showed me the severe losses their 
apple crops have suffered this year. They showed me apples that looked 
very much like these apples. They told me about the devastating effects 
of the late frost on their orchards and how they stayed out all night 
on May 18, during the freezing-cold temperatures, to try to protect 
their crop and save as many of their trees as they could. They told me 
in heartbreaking detail about the impact on their businesses and how 
disappointed they are not to be able to provide apples to their annual 
customers.

  I hope that families in New Hampshire will still visit their local 
orchards. Some still have some apples to pick, and they still have 
other products to buy and other activities for kids to enjoy. In a year 
like this, we need to support our local farmers more than ever.
  Before I close, I want to read some comments from a letter that was 
shared with my office from Ken Merrill, who is an apple grower in 
Londonderry, NH. His family owns and operates Oliver Merrill & Sons, 
which is a

[[Page S4623]]

fifth-generation farm in Londonderry. They specialize in growing apples 
and other kinds of fruit as well as other products. I think his 
comments here really show the experience of so many growers in New 
Hampshire this year.
  Ken says:

       I am writing you this letter on Labor Day 2023. Labor Day 
     weekend is usually a busy time on the farm. The farm stand is 
     packed with people buying apples, peaches, and other fruit. 
     Some years Pick-your-own apples is beginning and people are 
     coming to the orchard for outings.
       Not this year.
       I am sitting in my office, writing this letter, because 
     there are no peaches or other stone fruit, pears, and few 
     apples.
       At least 95 percent of the apple blossoms were killed by a 
     severe frost on May 18, 2023. The peaches and stone fruit 
     were killed by an unusually cold night in February.
       The consequences of these weather events are dramatic. The 
     farm stand is operating at a reduced level selling the few 
     vegetables we grow.
       Most years we hire three to five people for the harvest 
     season to pick, pack and help sell the crop. This year, we 
     have to tell the people that have worked for us for many 
     years that there were not jobs for them.
       We have had to cancel all our wholesale contracts with 
     supermarkets, no apples.
       We have had to stop selling to other farm stands we have 
     sold to for years as well as telling the New Hampshire Food 
     Bank that we had nothing to sell them this year.
       This is the first time in more than 50 years, since I have 
     been associated with the family business, that we have not 
     had an apple crop.

  Ken's experience reflects that of almost all of our growers in New 
Hampshire.
  In July, the Secretary of Agriculture declared a Federal disaster for 
New Hampshire growers as a result of the frost. However, for 
agricultural disasters, as the Presiding Officer knows, there is no 
Federal relief that is automatically triggered even after the Secretary 
of Agriculture has declared a Federal disaster.
  Instead, Congress must specifically appropriate funds. There is 
plenty of precedent for this. In 2023, Congress provided $3.7 billion 
for agricultural disasters that had occurred in calendar year 2022, and 
in 2022, Congress provided $10 billion for agricultural disasters that 
occurred in 2020 and 2021.
  Federal disaster relief is particularly urgent for farmers like those 
in New Hampshire who are underserved by existing Federal agricultural 
programs. In fact, many of our apple growers don't even have crop 
insurance because they have found that it doesn't really work for their 
businesses the way it is currently structured.
  I hope we can come together to support appropriations bills, but I 
hope we can also come together to provide the urgently needed relief 
funding for our farmers--those who have been so affected in New 
Hampshire and New England.
  I urge my colleagues to support this effort and to ensure that 
agricultural disaster relief is enacted promptly.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, so ordered.

                          ____________________