North Carolina’s Hurricane Florence Agricultural Disaster Program of 2018 is designed to directly assist farmers who suffered losses to commodities planted but not harvested before Sept. 13 and livestock, according to Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will administer the program, and assistance will be dependent upon funding from the General Assembly.

“Hurricane Florence was a catastrophe that hit agriculture at a time when historically high debt, previous disasters and chronic low commodity prices have already created a dim outlook for farmers,” said Commissioner Troxler. “Because of this storm, many areas of North Carolina’s Ag economy have run out of gas and we need to get the engine started again in rural NC. I am concerned that some of our farmers will choose not to return to the fields next year, and we are going to do all that we can to encourage them to do so. If funded by the N.C. General Assembly, this program will provide much needed cash flow to maintain agriculture and its multiplier effect for rural economies.”

Initial estimates for crop damage and livestock losses to North Carolina’s agriculture industry are estimated at $1.1 billion and expected to grow. More than half the state’s 100 counties have received a Presidential-disaster declaration.

The N.C. General Assembly directed the NCDA&CS to establish a Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery plan, and the sign-up period will end on Dec. 10.

For more information, visit www.ncagr.gov/agriculturaldisasterprogram or call 1-866-645-9403.