Overview

The Department works closely with state and federal partners to keep New York’s agricultural community informed about disasters and emergencies that may affect them.

Extreme Heat Events

An extreme heat event/incident is often defined as 3 or more days with abnormally high heat exceeding 90 degrees. Many farmers and producers work outdoors without air conditioning and sometimes without much shade or cover from the sun. It is important to take preventative measures to mitigate the effects of extreme heat and keep your staff and livestock safe.

Guidance for Workers

Extreme weather hazards in the workplace correlate to higher accident rates, illness, injuries, and deaths. To help protect outdoor workers’ health, Governor Hochul directed the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) to develop and issue guidance and best practices for employers to support the safety of outdoor workers in extreme temperatures, poor air quality, and extreme precipitation. View NYSDOL's guidance and resources here.

For more information about excessive heat, including additional classification terminology like advisories, watches, and warnings, visit weather.gov.

Learn more about how to deal with excessive heat events in the document below.

Weather Awareness

The first and best measure to protecting yourself, your farm, and your animals against emergency weather events is by being informed and being prepared. 

333111 Emergency Weather Alerts

There is a new and easy way to get emergency and weather text alerts from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) for events happening in your county. After you sign up, you will receive texts for emergency and weather alerts in your area including:

  • Severe weather alerts, expected impacts, and guidance and tips to stay safe
  • Significant and widespread power outages
  • Information about response activities such as shelter locations, warming centers, and water distribution

Learn more about the “Triple Three Triple One” Initiative here.

NYS Mesonet

In partnership with the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYSIPM), NYS Mesonet is the nation’s most advanced and largest early warning weather detection network, designed to provide meteorological data, products and services that help save lives and property while building a smart weather economy. Learn more at https://nysmesonet.org/.

Each of the Mesonet’s standard 127 stations, including 50 located at farms, orchards or vineyards, are equipped with automated sensors that measure weather information in real-time, such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, pressure, precipitation, solar radiation, snow depth and soil information. The sites also have cameras that photograph current conditions.  

Producer in New York State? Need highly localized, high-quality and comprehensive data & information? Request your own data from NYS Mesonet here: https://nysmesonet.org/about/data     

2024 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Disaster Designation Information

2024 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Stakeholder Notifications

Radiological Emergency Preparedness for the Agriculture Community Booklet Resource Guide

This booklet is provided to inform the agricultural community about protective actions that may need to be taken if a radiological emergency occurs at a nuclear power plant within New York, or in a neighboring state or province. This booklet also contains information on how you would be notified and what procedures you may be asked to follow.

New York State and local officials have developed emergency response plans to support and serve the agricultural community in the event of a nuclear power plant emergency. This booklet is intended for farmers, agricultural workers, livestock and poultry owners, fruit and vegetable growers, gardeners, food producers, processors, and distributors.

If you are a farmer within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant, actions may be necessary to protect food, feed, water, and livestock in the event of a nuclear power plant emergency. Following a release of radioactive gases and particles, State agencies will send teams to collect samples and conduct tests to determine if contamination occurred. If food and water become contaminated, some protective actions will be necessary. Information and instructions will be provided by local, state, and federal officials through press releases and press briefings.

Visit the DPC website here.

2024 Concord Grape Crop Loss Determination

In late April 2024, the Department issued a crop loss determination to assist grape farmers impacted by the frost/freeze event in late April. The designation will allow duly licensed farm wineries to manufacture or sell wine produced from grapes grown outside of New York State.

Learn more