Farmers in Western NC need Helene aid before growing season

It is hard to overstate the damage that Tropical Storm Helene inflicted on farmers in Western North Carolina. 

High winds. Landslides. Extreme flooding. They all ripped apart their land, removing acres of fertile soil that took thousands of years and millions of dollars to cultivate. 

Barns and bails of hay floated down rivers. 

One farmer lost her life.

Many others lost their livelihoods. 

For months in the aftermath of Helene, it seemed to farmers that adequate state and federal funding would never come through. Growers found other jobs to make ends meet. Others weren’t as lucky: They had to sell their farms.

But the struggles of these Appalachian people have not gone unnoticed. The American Relief Act, signed into law in late December, includes $21 billion for disaster assistance to farmers and $10 billion in direct economic assistance. 

Officials have not determined what portion will be earmarked for North Carolina.

Little is known about the mechanics or timeline of the funding. No eligibility requirements, limitations or restrictions have been announced. The Farm Service Agency has not yet decided how farmers will apply — they are just beginning to build the program.

The clock, however, is ticking.

Growing pains

Farmers need information and money — now.

“We’re in a real-time crunch here,” Terry Kelley, Henderson County’s extension director, told Carolina Public Press. “We’re four months out from the hurricane and for our growers, their 2025 season really started about two or three months ago. They need to be replacing trees, ordering plants, ordering fertilizer and pesticides, laying plastic, getting fields ready and paying bills from last year. Without any money in hand, they’re having a hard time moving forward.

“We have no idea when we’re going to see checks.”

Kelley estimates the agricultural losses in Henderson County alone amount to $150 million. Farmers there lost 60,000 apple trees and 500,000 nursery plants among so many other things.

Land.

Roads. 

Equipment.

All gone in the blink of an eye. 

Farmers and misfortune

For most farmers, their money is in their land. They rely on each growing season to break even. There is no cushion after a natural disaster. 

“That’s too much of a hit to absorb without some help,” Kelley said. “That’s going to put some people out of business. It already has.”

On some farms, floodwaters washed away acres of topsoil to expose bedrock, leaving massive sinkholes — some of which Kelley said were the size of five or six school buses — and erasing decades of hard work. 

But farmers can’t just go back and plant spring crops where there are no fields. Figuring out how to recover the topsoil is no easy task, but researchers at N.C. State are working to develop methods.

Some wonder, though, whether the money will reach farmers in time.

“I don’t think this funding is coming too late,” said Mike Yoder, an associate director of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State. “Farmers will need the money — whenever it gets here — to replace livestock, replace trees, to keep going at all.”

Another need? More state- and federal-level specialists on the ground to deal with the volume of agricultural challenges. Farmers have problems that require extra hands. 

It is hard to say whether the funding will cover new roles in county and state offices, but folks are hopeful.

“More personnel to assess and process claims and actually do the mitigation work is really important,” said Jim Hamilton, the extension director for Watauga County. “Our USDA and county soil and water folks are pretty overwhelmed with a sudden number of new clients and issues to address. While some temporary folks have come on board, it’s gonna take more boots on the ground to do the job as well.”

News of the federal funding is exciting, but without a clear path forward, anxiety remains.

“We’re really glad that the money was allocated,” Kelley said.  “That’s just the first step.”

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