The Maryland Farm Bureau (MDFB) applauds the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) decision to declare 12 Maryland counties as primary natural disaster areas following the devastating late-April freeze.

This critical Secretarial designation opens the door for the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend emergency credit to impacted producers. These emergency loans will provide a vital financial lifeline, allowing growers to meet recovery needs such as replacing essential equipment, reorganizing farming operations, or refinancing certain debts as they navigate a challenging year.

“Since the days immediately following the late April frost, Maryland Farm Bureau has constantly stressed the need for assistance for our hardworking farmers who were affected by this extreme weather event,” said MDFB President Jamie Raley. “We are grateful to the USDA and our partners in government for giving our farmers this much needed relief and security for them to keep going.”

The declaration follows a data-driven advocacy campaign spearheaded by MDFB. In the immediate aftermath of the freeze, MDFB launched an internal statewide damage survey. The findings showed that nearly 90 impacted growers reported an average estimated production loss of 67.5 percent across frost-damaged crops, with many operations in heavily hit counties reporting near-total losses of 90 percent or higher.

Supported by this data, MDFB sent a formal petition on May 14th to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, requesting an expedited declaration. This letter was followed by similar request from Governor Wes Moore and Maryland’s Congressional Delegation. MDFB subsequently supported the State of Maryland’s May 24 directives to assist growers, which included critical relief like waiving the production minimum requirements for Class 4 Limited Wineries. 

Throughout the crisis, MDFB served as the primary megaphone for affected producers, keeping the agricultural community's struggles in the public eye. On April 30, President Raley released a video message urging all affected producers to officially report their losses to their local FSA offices. MDFB leadership and staff took those stories directly to the airwaves with interviews to WUSA, WMAL, WTOP, and more. The organization also highlighted the human element of the freeze in its official newspaper, The Old Line Farmer, featuring the firsthand experiences of local operations like Heyser Farms in Silver Spring and The Vineyards at Dodon in Davidsonville.

FSA emergency loans are now available to eligible farmers in the designated counties. Designated counties include Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Dorchester, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, Washington, and Wicomico Counties. Contiguous counties included in the disaster declaration also include Allegany, Anne Arundel, Harford, Kent, Prince George’s, Talbot, Worcester, and Baltimore City. Producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA office to begin the application process.

MDFB is the state’s largest grassroots agricultural organization, comprising over 7,000 member families with a shared mission to strengthen and grow Maryland agriculture.