This page is intended to provide information for disaster programs administered by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
NC Ag Disaster Crop Loss Program
On March 19 2025, through The Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part I (S.L. 2025-2), the North Carolina General Assembly established the Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program, a one-time assistance program for agricultural producers who suffered verifiable losses from any declared agricultural disaster in 2024. This includes Hurricane Helene, drought, Tropical Storm Debby, and Potential Cyclone 8. The application period for this program is closed and payments are currently being sent to applicants.
USDA Block Grant Program
In September, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden signed a $221 million federal block grant agreement today that targets aid to North Carolina farmers who sustained losses and damages from Hurricane Helene in 2024. This Block Grant is for production losses not covered by USDA programs or crop insurance. The program will cover four categories of eligible losses: infrastructure damage, market losses, future economic losses and timber losses. It will apply to the 39 counties that received a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Helene. The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has created a work plan and have submitted the plan to USDA for approval. Once we have approval for the plan, we will work as quickly as possible open applications and begin the process of getting these funds to farmers. As more information about the program is available, it will be posted below.
FAQ for NC Ag Disaster Crop Loss Program Payments
The payments are part of a total of $478 million in ag 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 ag losses in 2024 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 department anticipates releasing checks in batches by category. The first payments were sent the week of Aug. 25. Other payments, by category, will follow. Mostly all checks should be mailed by mid-October.
Many factors were included in the calculations. Payment calculations were based on information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Farm Service Agency 578 Producer print or 2024 FSA crop report, average county yield data and state price averages provided by USDA – National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Percentage of loss, pricing information from USDA and other sources. Other known federal payments to farmers in 2024 were also considered.
When you receive a check in the mail, carefully check the payment stub. It should include your farm name, address, application county and payment category. If you submitted claims in more than one category or county then you could receive additional payments.
Payments were calculated and issued based on completed and verified applications.
The categories are:
n Aquaculture
n Program crops
n Specialty crops
n Nurseries to include fruit trees, Christmas trees and turf
n Infrastructure, with work still underway to determine infrastructure cost-share payments
Please send any questions via email to agdisaster@ncagr.gov at any time or call the Disaster Assistance Hotline 1-866-747-9823 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday.
Everyone who receives a payment will also receive a 1099 for the 2025 tax year.
The application period for this disaster assistance was set in legislation as 45 days. This window is closed. We anticipate a second application period for $25 million for infrastructure losses the General Assembly approved in a separate bill.
We also anticipate a USDA block grant application to be available later this year. Check back often on our website at www.ncagr.gov for more information.