New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill declared an emergency after an unprecedented cold snap decimated an estimated $300 million worth of Garden State crops that bloomed too early.
Sherrill penned the executive order on Wednesday — and sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting a formal Disaster Designation, which would unlock federal funds for New Jersey farmers disproportionately impacted by the blight.
April’s bipolar weather ushered in two back-to-back days of summer temperatures that forced select crops to flower weeks ahead of schedule. That was followed by temps that plummeted below freezing between April 19 and April 22, spoiling upwards of $300 million in crops, according to the executive order.
Almost all fruits — including blueberries, the state’s highest-selling crop — were effectively wiped out, with some farmers reporting 90% in losses that brought their season to a quick end, the order said.
“New Jersey’s agricultural sector is a vital engine of our economy; it is the very reason we bear the name the Garden State. The April freeze caused serious damage to our growers, and those losses demand decisive action,” Sherrill wrote in a statement.
“This executive order mobilizes a whole-of-government recovery effort out of Trenton, cutting through bureaucracy and accelerating results for impacted farmers and families. Our farming families are hurting, and I won’t stand by and let it happen.”
When drought and frost warnings bookended April, Schober Orchards owner John Hurff warned CBS News that his peaches were already “hurt pretty bad” as apple trees started to wilt.
“When you’re dry, you have to have water, everything needs water,” Hurff explained.
“Stuff doesn’t grow as well. Puts a lot more stress on the plant, puts a lot more stress on you.”
New Jersey’s agriculture industry produces over $1.5 billion in wholesale value annually, the order said.