April frost caused significant losses for Maryland farmers. Now they're calling for federal assistance.

Maryland farmers are asking for federal assistance after a cold snap in April led to crop losses of nearly 67%, according to the State Farm Bureau (MDFB). 

The frost on April 20 had detrimental impacts on some farms, with nearly 90 impacted farmers reporting production losses across their surveyed crops, MDFB said. In some counties, farmers reported near total losses of 90% or more. 

MDFB represents more than 7,000 farmers across the state. 

"Maryland farmers are resilient, but they cannot weather this storm alone," the agency said. 

Cold snap impacts crops

MDFB said its survey covered 320 acres of land and highlighted "a perfect storm that occurred when unseasonably warm early spring temperatures were followed by a sharp, late-season freeze." 

The cold snap hit the state's specialty crops the hardest, including wine grapes, apples, peaches and early spring vegetable starts. 

Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy lost 70% of its crop due to the frost, said president and executive winemaker Anthony Aellen. 

"They're not looking at a calendar," Aellen said of the crops. "They're looking at air temperature and soil temperature. That's all that matters to a plant, and the soil temperature got warm enough because we were hitting 90 degrees."

Calling for federal help 

In a letter, the agency is now calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue a Secretarial Disaster Declaration, which would allow for the use of federal funds and emergency loans for farmers. 

In the letter sent to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins, MDFB said preliminary reports show many counties faced production losses that surpass the 30% threshold needed for a federal disaster designation. 

The agency also requested that the USDA expedite the review of its data and crop losses. 

"Our farmers are worried, and for many, this frost represents the loss of an entire year of income in a single night," the agency said.