ALBANY– Governor Kathy Hochul Friday asked the USDA to designate several Hudson Valley counties as disaster areas as a result of significant fruit crop loss from the April freeze.

Farmers in impacted areas around New York have reported an estimated loss of more than $30 million in their apple, stone fruit, grape, and strawberry crops and the Governor is asking the federal government for aid.

Counties hard hit by the frost include Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. Contiguous counties include Delaware, and Rockland, among others in various parts of the state.

Supporting the request for aid US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congressman Pat Ryan (D, NY-18), and locally, Ulster County Legislator Laura Donovan of Marlborough, who said, “Swift action is essential to provide for the stability our Hudson Valley farmers need to recover from this catastrophe.”