Aid package sought for damaged crops

TURNER – When spring came this year, the owners of Ricker Hill Orchards discovered they had lost thousands of trees to winter kill.

Dead and dying apple trees were scattered throughout the orchard. Deep cold and a lack of snow cover had killed some of the most mature producing trees.

“You can’t even put a value on those trees,” said Nancy Ricker on Friday.

“The ones we lost had been in the ground for seven to 15 years and were at the peak of their production, with at least 10 years left. We expect even more losses this winter when other trees that have been weakened don’t make it through.”

The Ricker family, which has run the Androscoggin County orchard for eight generations, is hoping a measure proposed by Maine’s congressional delegation will provide some financial assistance.

The $1 million for Maine’s apple growers is part of a $9 million aid package being sought to provide relief for Maine’s potato, blueberry and hay farmers.

U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, in a joint statement, said they are trying to include the money in a spending bill that covers primarily homeland security matters.

The House included no provision for emergency funding in its version of the spending bill. The issue is before a House-Senate conference committee, which means the two chambers are trying to work out differences in dollar figures and priorities.

Earlier this year, Snowe and Collins sought $400,000 in federal aid specifically for Maine’s orchards, but it appears that money has already been spent.

Even if that request had been funded, the state’s damage is so high that Marilyn Meyerhans of Fairfield, president of the Maine Pomological Society, estimated it would amount to only $10 per tree.

Under the latest Senate-adopted amendment, Maine farmers could receive up to $9 million in disaster relief:

. $6.5 million for potato losses.

. $1.1 million for blueberry losses.

. $500,000 for hay losses.

. $1 million for fruit tree losses.

The entire package would provide $2.464 billion in aid for farmers across the country.