Governor Scott Walker is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help Wisconsin farmers who suffered crop losses last spring.
Walker has requested a Secretarial Disaster Designation from the USDA for Chippewa, Columbia, Eau Claire, Jackson, Jefferson, Pierce, Polk, Sauk, St. Croix, and Trempealeau Counties. Producers in those 10 counties lost perennial crops that had begun to blossom or bud when freezing temperatures were recorded May 13 and 14.
The governor’s office reports many farmers experienced harvest losses of 30 percent or greater for apples, asparagus, blueberries, hops, and strawberries.