12/26/2006

Farms devastated by storms

By EMMY PARSONS

eparsons@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — There weren't many memorable storms in 2006, but for several farmers in northern Michigan, those that did hit proved devastating.

"First we had hail in the spring and then we had hail again in July,” said Sarah Korson, a Leelanau county farmer whose cherry and apple crops withered under bad weather. "That's the second time we've had hail in three years.”

Twenty-eight counties in Michigan, including several in northern Michigan, have been designated as primary natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers who demonstrate a loss of over 30 percent of their crops are eligible for low-interest federal emergency loans.

"That lost income may make it difficult to pay bills, to make debt payments or to finance next year's operation, so we use loans to help them recover and help pay those things,” said Jim Monroe, a farm loan manager with the federal Farm Service Agency.

Monroe said a few loan applications have been received. Loans can be written for up to seven years, and the interest rate is 3.75 percent.

Still, making ends meet can be a challenge.

"The interest is low, but it's still something that has to be paid back. (T)his weather seems to be playing tricks with us these last few years and it's hard to keep up,” Korson said.

Korson said this year's hail storm took down about 70,000 pounds of her tart cherries and destroyed her entire apple crop.

Damage was sporadic in the 28 counties that received primary natural disaster area classification.

"It's been kind of spread out as far as the areas that were hit,” said Kathy Koslowski, Antrim County's FSA executive director. "There have been some areas that were hit quite hard and some areas that fared quite well.”

Some farmers escaped large-scale weather damage.

"This year we fared far better than average because there was more weather-related trouble around us, and we were missed,” said Richard Friske, owner of Friske Orchards in Antrim County. "That's just the weather anywhere in the country, and especially with the summer storms with the hail, that can be so hit and miss.

"Even on the farms one area can be hit while another area missed.”

Farmers interested in the loans must apply by July 9, 2007.