The state agriculture commissioner says grape farmers across New York are getting some help after an April freeze.

Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Lab at Cornell AgriTech found more than 40% of the Concord variety of grapes grown or produced for winemaking in New York were destroyed by a frost/freeze event in April this year. Cornell AgriTech projected a 60% crop loss in Concord vineyards in the Lake Erie region. That translates to about 46-51% Concord crop loss in all of New York state.

This determination means that licensed wineries may now manufacture or sell wine produced from grapes grown outside of New York state.

“This latest freeze event left our grape growers and farm wineries struggling with the potential of not having enough New York-grown grapes to maintain their farm winery license and thereby maintain their markets," said State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball. "By issuing this declaration, we’re taking immediate action to help our farm wineries recover from the freezing temperatures experienced in April and allow them to focus on preparing for next year’s growing season. We encourage any impacted farms to take advantage of this respite and to continue to report losses to lessen the impacts of this damaging severe weather event.”

Wineries have until Oct. 31 of this year to apply and become eligible for the assistance. Farm wineries can apply for the exemption here. 

An industry-wide webinar will be held on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. to provide information on the application process and to answer any questions farm wineries may have. The webinar can be accessed here.