HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — Applications are now being accepted for the Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program that designates hundreds of million dollars to help farmers recover after what's being called the worst year for agriculture in North Carolina’s history.

 

What You Need To Know

  • Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced Tuesday farmers can now apply for relief funding if they lost crops due to Helene 

  • Jeff Nix, owner of Flavor Full Farms, lost nine acres of trees in his apple orchard

  • He said damage from the storm cost him a loss of $140,000 in revenue for every year it takes him to replant and reap a harvest on the trees lost

 

Jeff Nix, owner of Flavor Full Farms, supplies schools across North Carolina and says the funds will help him rebuild. 

"The water got such a force behind pushing those trees it just totally took the farm away down through here,” he said pointing to the nine acres of apple trees Helene washed away. “The flood took it down here and destroyed it.”

Trailers, debris and $85,000 in broken equipment now litter his farmland. 

“Five rows out of 27. That’s all that’s left to harvest fruit off of,” he said referring to the long rows of trees lost. 

Nix estimates $140,000 in revenue each year gone. He says planting and growing new trees to replace what was lost could take more than five years to see a harvest.

“That was a hard ground for us to make up,” he said.

But, he’s optimistic as Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced Tuesday — he can now apply for funding for the crops lost because of the storm. 

“We are so thankful as farmers to get the help needed to put this back into farming,” Nix said.“We are so thankful as farmers to get the help needed to put this back into farming,” Nix said.

Even before the funding helps him get this part of his farm back up and running, he says he’s making due with what he has to continue to supply apples to school districts across the state. 

“We have other growers in the area — there’s probably about 20 to 28 growers in the area,” he said. “Of those 25 I’m going to say we work with approximately 8 to 10 growers to service the school system as well as the food banks.” 

He and his son will have to get their hands dirty as the funding won’t cover all their needs, but they will use it to start the replanting process among other things.

"It's called recovery, and we will recover,” he said.

In addition to the $200 million set aside for crops lost due to Helene, Troxler says $100 million is allotted for lost crops from other statewide weather-related events as well.