Extensive cold and wet weather that has hit Washington state this year has led to calls by governor Chris Gregoire for the US government to grant federal disaster designation for produce and other crops.

Governor Gregoire released a news release during her ‘Feeding Washington’ tour of east Washington outlining the fact that she had asked US secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack to grant 29 Washington counties disaster designation.

The request includes disaster declarations for Adams, Benton, Chelan, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom and Yakima counties.

'Conditions this year have been difficult for our growers across Washington, from Clark County to Okanogan,' Ms Gregoire said. 'Cold temperatures have harmed our tree fruit crops, while excessive rain made it difficult for bees to pollinate strawberries and other berry crops. A declaration will help our businesses absorb a difficult year and look forward.'

A United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster declaration would allow farmers to apply for disaster assistance payments through certain programmes administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency, while farmers may also be eligible for emergency low-interest loans.

'There are a lot of things farmers can do to minimise the risks they face during the production year, but they’ll never be able to control the weather,' said Washington State Department of Agriculture director Dan Newhouse in the news release.

'For those producers who experienced crop damage, report that information to your local USDA office or agent as soon as you can. And for the rest of us, this disaster is a reminder to purchase the appropriate crop insurance or USDA non-insured crop disaster assistance coverage,' he added. 'We never know when we’ll need those tools to help weather the storm.'

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