Henderson County farmers have received millions in state funding to lessen the financial impacts from devastating crop losses in 2021.  

Several crops, primarily apples and blackberries, suffered from a spring freeze in April last year followed by flooding from Tropical Storm Fred that August. 

“Those two events really took out a lot of our agriculture production,” Dr. Terry Kelley, Director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension in Henderson County, told the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday. His office assisted local farmers in receiving financial assistance from the State Disaster Relief Program in 2021. 

About half of agriculture output in the county was impacted by the weather events last year, he said, with as much as a 70% loss to apple crops. This caused an estimated $50 million in damages.  

“The good news is that we’ve had a much better season this year,” Kelley said.  

Around $50 million was allocated from the state, and Henderson County got the largest amount with approximately $14 million in aid, said Kelley. Farmers affected by the 2021 spring freeze were not initially included in the state’s disaster relief bill. The Cooperative Extension Office reached out to state legislatures to ask that apple and blackberry farmers be included.  

Insurance also covered a significant portion of the farmers’ loss, he added.  

In many cases, payments allowed growers to enter the 2022 season without facing lingering debts from 2021, according to Kelley. The extension office assisted around 50 farmers with filing claims.  

Source - https://eu.blueridgenow.com