United States Senator Charles Schumer is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to start the paperwork for a disaster declaration because of this summer’s drought.
Schumer’s office says the New York Democrat has talked to USDA officials about helping Upstate New York farmers who suffer crop damage and losses because of the severe drought conditions.
This week’s Federal Drought Monitor map puts the entire central and western half of Upstate into either moderate or severe drought. State authorities raised their alert level for Western New York from “drought watch” to a “drought warning” earlier this week.