The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has begun sending out checks to Western North Carolina to farmers who applied in the first round of its 2024 Ag Disaster Crop Loss program.
Checks will continue to go out over the coming weeks to farmers in other regions, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced in an Aug. 27 news release.
“Getting disaster relief out to our devastated ag community has been a priority for the department, and I appreciate farmers’ patience as we have worked through the process of verifying damage and losses and processing the over 8,500 applications we received,” Troxler said.
“I want to thank members of the General Assembly for recognizing the urgency behind these funds and for continuing to support our ag community in the aftermath of the worst ag disaster this state has experienced,” he said.
The Ag Disaster Crop Loss program, established by the General Assembly in March, is “a one-time assistance program for agricultural producers who suffered verifiable losses from any declared agricultural disaster in 2024,” according to the department’s website.
North Carolina farmers saw close to $5 billion in agricultural losses in 2024 from extreme weather including drought, Tropical Storm Helene, Tropical Storm Debby and Potential Cyclone 8, the release said.
In response, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $478 million in agricultural assistance, it said.
Payments will be made by county and by category and farmers may receive multiple payments if they operate across counties or categories including aquaculture, specialty crops, Christmas trees, fruit trees and turn nurseries and infrastructure.
A North Carolina Department of Agriculture spokesperson couldn’t be reached by deadline.
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George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at GFRussell@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: NC Agriculture Dept. starts sending out crop loss disaster assistance