The North Carolina General Assembly and Governor Stein as of March 20, 2025 have signed into law SL 2025-2, the Disaster Recovery Act of 2025. A portion of this this bill (SUBPART II-D. AGRICULTURAL DISASTER CROP LOSS PROGRAM) allocates to the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) funds for producer assistance: $200 million for verifiable losses from Hurricane Helene and $100 million for verifiable losses from all other Secretarial declared agricultural disasters in 2024, including drought, Tropical Storm Debby and Potential Tropical Cyclone 8. Based on the large number of disaster declarations issued for North Carolina in 2024, all 100 counties are eligible for some portion of the program.
The authorizing statute directs NCDA&CS to collect all claim information by May 4, 2025.
We anticipate that the application will be available in early April. At this time, we would encourage future applicants to obtain a copy of their FSA 578 Producer Print form from their local USDA-FSA office. For those who have do not have a FSA 578 already on file for the 2024 crop year, local FSA offices should be able to assist with creation of Non-Certified 2024 578 crop report for the purpose of the program.
Commissioner Troxler’s statement about the program can be found at at NCAGR.gov
