I have an orchard in Mequon WI - just north of Milwaukee. I applied for
TAP in October 2014. The process has been a nightmare. The local
office required that I submit an orchard plan listing every tree by
cultivar, age, rootstock, and row spacing. Each change in one of those
criteria = a new block for record keeping. Then local FSA office
personal changed the rules on how the application was written after I
complied with their initial requirements. That change 'disqualified'
90% of my damage. I had to fight the local office at the state level.
The state level coordinator disallowed all damaged trees. The federal
register for the program allows credit for damaged trees, page 21116,
subpart E, 1416.400 paragraph (b). I have Honeycrisp (6000+ trees) with
southwest injury from the -28 degrees. The dead cambium goes up to 5' -
6' in the trees with 30-40% of the trunk diameter dead. Damage in the
block was 80% of the trees. None of that injury was credited under the
program rules. I have to remove those trees as they are infected with
black rot and other fungi . The state officer stated "if the tree can
grow one apple - it's not damaged" even if the whole top or one side is
dead. I submitted a claim for over $14,500 using the formula they
required for the dead trees. I just received payment for the program.
Payment was $5,800. They paid 40% of my claim which is interesting as
the program list the lowest repayment rate of 50% (65% payment for
replacing dead trees, 50% of removal costs). Better than nothing but
never again. The amount of time documenting the orchard loss,
documenting the work in removing the dead acres, time lost in many 3+
hours meetings, upset and bad feelings do not compensate me for trying
to work with FSA. I'm never going back to Farm dis-Service Agency for
any program.
Bob Barthel
Barthel Fruit Farm
On 6/11/2016 10:07 AM, Pat Curran wrote:
I'd like to know what, if any, experience fellow growers might have had with the
government's Tree Assistance Program (TAP) that was put in place a couple of years ago to
"assist" growers with replanting (replacing) trees that were killed by the
severe winter of '14?
Pat Curran
Currans Orchard
6385 Kilburn Avenue
Rockford, Illinois 61101
815-963-7848
p...@curransorchard.com
www.curransorchard.com
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