Katherine Zehnder / Nick Craig
Carolina Journal
Lawmakers in the North Carolina House of Representatives recently introduced a bill to establish a financial aid program for farmers who experienced significant crop loss in 2024. Agriculture Crops Disaster Relief (HB 130) is sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Dixon, R-Duplin, Rep. Neal Jackson, R-Moore, Rep. Howard Penny, R-Harnett, and Rep. Blair Eddins, R-Wilkes.
During a press conference Wednesday morning Rep. Dixon claimed regardless of location farmers are in desperate need of support.
“The various production methods and processes from one end of our state to the other. We have great variety that helps us to produce the food and fiber necessary to clothe ourselves and feed ourselves, and to remain a free nation,” said Dixon. “The concept behind this bill is to try to find a common denominator that connects east and west, and to make it as simple as possible, farmers grow crops. There’s no distinction between growing a crop.”
Unlike past efforts that have excluded larger farms, this bill ensures proportional relief for all affected farmers. The aid does not aim to fully compensate farmers but to provide a financial boost to help them continue operations.
“It’s impossible for us to make them whole,” claimed Dixon. “So, what we’re trying to do is when they finally determine that they’ve got $1 of uninsured loss, we want to decide how much we can give them. And that’s going to be somewhere between 10 cents and 20 cents.”
“North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness had an economic impact on the state of $111 billion in 2024,” Jackson told the Carolina Journal. “HB 130 seeks to provide relief to those that suffered significant damage due to natural disasters. $475 million will be transferred from various reserves to the State Disaster Relief Fund, and these funds will be appropriated for the 2024 Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program. The program provides financial assistance to farmers across North Carolina with verified losses from agricultural disasters in 2024.”
The bill appropriates $475 million to the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund, which will be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The money appropriated for the Program is funded through several “reserve funds,” including $200 million from the Economic Development Project Reserve.
“House Bill 130 aims to transfer a total of $475 million from three different reserve accounts into the State Emergency and Disaster Relief Fund to create and finance the 2024 Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program,” Joseph Harris, fiscal policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation told the Carolina Journal. “$200 million would come from the Stabilization and Inflation Reserve, which was established to fund costs associated with inflation and other measures necessary to stabilize the State economy. Another $200 million would be transferred from the Information Technology Reserve, which was developed to fund information technology project expenditures. The final $75 million would come from the Economic Development Project Reserve, which was created to fund economic development projects.”
“While these three reserves were not designed to finance disaster relief efforts, transferring the funds into the State Emergency and Disaster Relief Fund frees up these monies to be used for disaster recovery,” concluded Harris. “In addition to House Bill 130 aimed at agriculture, policymakers have also put forth House Bill 47, which would appropriate a separate $500 million to other general disaster relief efforts.”
According to the January report from the State Controller’s office, the Stabilization and Inflation Reserve had a balance of $1 million, the Information Technology Reserve has a balance of $343.8 million, and the Economic Development Project Reserve has a balance of $703.2 million at the time of the report.
“The Program shall be used to provide financial assistance to farmers with verified losses from an agriculture disaster in this State in 2024,” reads the bill. “The Department may use up to one percent (1%) of funds allocated for the Program for administrative services.”
The bill is a one-time measure, not a recurring relief program.