Roger Hannigan Gilson reports for Times Union that 31 counties in upstate New York, including all the local counties, want disaster relief from the federal government after last May’s deep freeze damaged crops. Experts say grapes and apples were hit the hardest on May 18, when temperatures plunged below freezing. Senator Chuck Schumer claimed 95 percent of certain crops were totally destroyed from the freeze. At least 30 percent of a crop must be lost for a county to request federal disaster relief, and in Columbia County apples, blueberries, cherries, peaches, plums and strawberries all reached that threshold, according to the New York State Farm Service Agency. Schumer said, "I am urging the USDA to swiftly provide the vineyards, orchards, and farms now facing detrimental damage with a Secretarial Disaster Designation to unlock emergency relief funds.... We can’t leave New York’s beautiful orchards and renowned wine country out in the cold right as harvest season begins.” If the federal government declares a disaster, low-interest USDA emergency loans become available to farmers in each county where a disaster is declared, farmers can borrow up to 100 percent of the cost of production or physical losses due to the freeze, with loans topping off at $500,000 per producer. Read more about this story in Times Union.