News

Farm disaster checks going out in WNC

A farm field laid to waste by Helene's floodwaters.

By Lightning Reports, Published: August 28, 2025

The first group of checks have been sent to farmers who applied for disaster assistance through the 2024 Ag Disaster Crop Loss, with more to follow in the coming weeks, N.C Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced.

The first round of checks was sent to farmers in Western North Carolina.
The payments are part of a total of $478 million in agricultural disaster assistance crop loss funds appropriated by the N.C. General Assembly earlier this year to help farmers statewide who suffered almost $5 billion in losses from Hurricane Helene, a drought, Tropical Storm Debby and Potential Cyclone 8. This includes an additional $25 million for infrastructure losses the General Assembly approved in a separate bill. Another application period is required for the $25 million in infrastructure funding and information on that will be announced at a later date, the state agriculture department said in a 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.”
Checks will be sent out by category, so farmers may receive multiple checks depending on the category their losses fell into, Troxler said. In addition, if farmers have farms and farm losses in different counties in North Carolina, payments would be made by counties.
The categories are: aquaculture, program crops, specialty crops, nurseries to include fruit trees, Christmas trees and turf, infrastructure, with work still underway to determine infrastructure cost-share payments.
“Nursery crop payments will be made in two installments, with farmers receiving a partial payment in the first check,” Troxler said. “Farmers should look for information on the check stub, which details what category the check covers.”
Factors considered to calculate the disaster payments included the county the farm is located in, the county average yield, state average price, county loss percentage and reported acreage.
Other known federal payments to farmers in 2024 were also considered.
For more information, contact the department at 866-747-9823, email at agdisaster@ncagr.gov or check for Frequently Asked Questions under the Ag Disaster Crop Loss Program block on the department’s website at www.ncagr.gov.