U.S. agriculture secretary visits WNC
Resources for the agricultural industry are widely available. Bob Scott photo
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Asheville to hear firsthand from local, state and Tribal officials, emergency managers, food bank staff and volunteers, and impacted producers on the region’s relief and recovery efforts and highlighted resources from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help producers, families and communities in the Tarheel State recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene.
“We know that communities impacted by Hurricane Helene have a long road to recovery, and USDA is committed to supporting that recovery for as long as it takes,” said Secretary Vilsack. “Along with our fellow federal agencies across the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA will continue using every resource at our disposal to help people in North Carolina get back on their feet.”
The USDA laid out resources available to a whole host of people impacted by the storm.
Producers can visit farmers.gov/hurricane for more information on programs and flexibilities or call the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Call Center at 877.508.8364.
Here are some of the programs available to producers:
• Reporting Losses: USDA encourages producers to document damages and losses as best as possible, but understands some documentation may be lost, destroyed or unattainable. Report damages to FSA.
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• Crop Insurance: USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has authorized crop insurance companies to provide flexibility on reporting requirements for those who are unable to report losses due to the disaster
• FSA Disaster Programs: FSA offers a number of disaster programs as well as low-interest emergency loans to help producers recover from production and physical losses. FSA is providing flexibilities for its programs, including extended signup opportunities and use of waivers and emergency procedures to expedite program delivery.
• EQIP Assistance: USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides technical and financial assistance to producers through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help with immediate needs and long-term support to help recover from natural disasters and conserve water resources. The program can assist with restoring livestock infrastructure, emergency animal mortality disposal and immediate soil erosion protection. NRCS-North Carolina recently announced the availability of $15 million for Emergency EQIP.
• NRCS offers help to communities through the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program, which provides assistance to landowners and project sponsors following a natural disaster. EWP is designed to help people and conserve natural resources by relieving imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural occurrences.
USDA is working with states, local government officials and partners to ensure that food and nutrition assistance reaches those in need as soon as possible. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued flexibilities and waivers for its many nutrition programs across states affected by Hurricane Helene, including North Carolina, in order to help those in impacted communities get the food they need quickly. Families may receive additional assistance through:
• USDA Foods Distribution: FNS approved the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to use 100% American-grown USDA Foods to operate a disaster household distribution in 20 counties. The disaster household distribution food boxes will be provided to approximately 348,000 individuals via self-pick up at food banks and pantry distribution sites in the 20 targeted counties from Nov. 4 through Dec. 3.
• Hot Foods Waiver: SNAP households statewide, including those with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, can purchase hot foods with SNAP benefits through Nov. 3, 2024. This waiver allows households to purchase hot foods with SNAP benefits where Hurricane Helene has left many without a place to prepare food.
Additionally, FNS has provided flexibilities for the WIC program and other child nutrition programs, including Summer-EBT and school meal programs, to allow those programs to best serve impacted communities. All FNS flexibilities in the state can be found at the North Carolina Disaster Nutrition Assistance webpage.
Tom Vilsack. File photo
USDA is providing immediate relief to existing Rural Development (RD) borrowers, including homeowners and businesses in impacted areas of North Carolina. Rural Development stands ready to help people whose communities have been devastated and offers essential support to rural residents, local government and business owners to aid their long-term recovery and rebuilding process. Individuals looking for assistance should contact their local Rural Development office to discuss available flexibilities.
• Housing: Existing home loan borrowers who have had properties damaged in presidentially-declared disaster areas may request the suspension of mortgage payments for a period of time. Borrowers may also request waiver of late fees for delayed payments for a period of time, request a payment assistance package and file a claims package. There is a dedicated disaster assistance phone line available at 888.796.0538 or TDD 800.438.1832 or email inquiries to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
• Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP): For these existing borrowers available flexibilities include: an immediate 90-day suspension on collections and foreclosures; forbearance on any mortgage payments for up to 12 months; borrowers may also be eligible for local, state, or federal aid and should work with their SFHGLP are encouraged to with their borrowers to identify additional resources. Guaranteed Loan servicing questions should be directed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
• Water and Environmental Programs (WEP): FEMA Public Assistance (PA) and Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) applicants can use Rural Utilities Service (RUS) WEP grant funding toward the non-Federal cost share (75%, sometimes 100%) for eligible FEMA repair/restoration and mitigation projects. Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants (ECWAG) are available to help eligible rural communities recover from an emergency that threatens the availability of safe, reliable drinking water. For assistance and guidance on application guidelines, rural water and waste system officials should contact their local RD office.
• Business Programs: State Business Program Directors will address immediate needs and challenges of guaranteed loan borrowers and lenders. For more information contact your local office. For existing grantees, USDA RD will provide extensions of the grant performance period to provide grantees and opportunity to reestablish after an event and continue on with the award purpose. For intermediaries, who have received funding through USDA RD Business Programs, USDA RD will engage with intermediaries to determine the disaster impact to the underlying revolving loan/businesses to assess repayment risk.
In Asheville, Secretary Vilsack visited the Asheville FEMA Emergency Operations Center and U.S. Forest Service Dispatch Center/USDA Asheville Service Center. He received briefings from local USDA and Forest Service staff, who have been working to support FEMA’s national response. As part of these efforts, Forest Service personnel have cleared over 150 miles of road, and partially cleared over 80 miles of road, in multiple counties in Western North Carolina, providing critical access for search and rescue crews and other responders.
Vilsack also traveled to Mills River to visit the MANNA FoodBank Distribution Center, which has been providing much needed food assistance and emergency food distributions for residents impacted by Hurricane Helene. Residents can learn more about MANNA’s efforts, volunteer, donate and find food distribution locations at usda.gov.
At the Western North Carolina Farmers Market in Asheville, Vilsack met with local farmers and ranchers whose operations have incurred damages and losses due to Hurricane Helene. He heard firsthand how USDA can best support them as they recover and rebuild and assured them that USDA is committed to supporting them as long as it takes. As part of this assistance, Secretary Vilsack announced last week initial indemnity payments to producers under hurricane and tropical storm crop insurance policies, totaling an estimated $4.1 million for North Carolina. As farmers submit more claims, the amount of assistance provided will continue to increase.
