AN ACT to establish and fund an agricultural disaster crop loss program.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Part I. Legislative findings

SECTION 1.1.  The North Carolina General Assembly makes the following findings for agriculture in 2024:

(1)        Agriculture and agribusiness in North Carolina constituted an economic impact of one hundred eleven billion one hundred million dollars ($111,100,000,000), posting an eight billion dollar ($8,000,000,000) increase from the previous year.

(2)        North Carolina is one of the nation's top producers of a diversity of agriculture commodities, including sweet potatoes, tobacco, eggs, cucumbers, Christmas trees, trout, peanuts, broilers, and cotton.

(3)        North Carolina suffered continual damage to agricultural crops and commodities from natural disasters that impacted every portion of the State, including drought, excessive rainfall, and tropical storms.

(4)        Every county in the State was included in one or more secretarial disaster declarations by the United States Department of Agriculture based on a finding of significant production losses for agriculture.

part iI. transfers and appropriations

SECTION 2.1.(a)  Transfer. – The State Controller shall transfer the following amounts from the following sources to the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund:

(1)        Two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) from the Stabilization and Inflation Reserve.

(2)        Two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) from the Information Technology Reserve.

(3)        Seventy‑five million dollars ($75,000,000) from the Economic Development Project Reserve.

SECTION 2.1.(b)  Appropriation. – The State Controller shall transfer from the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (Department) the sum of four hundred seventy‑five million dollars ($475,000,000). The funds transferred in this subsection are appropriated to the Department for the 2024 Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program as established in Part III of this act. These funds and remaining funds from Section 5.9A(c)(2) of S.L. 2021‑180 and Section 5.4(a)(4)a. of S.L. 2022‑74 shall be used to assist farmers in counties designated by the United States Department of Agriculture as agricultural disasters that occurred during 2024 in this State.

part iii. 2024 agricultural DIsaster crop loss program

SECTION 3.1.(a)  Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program. – The 2024 Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program is established within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Program shall be used to provide financial assistance to farmers with verified losses from an agricultural disaster in this State in 2024. The Department may use up to one percent (1%) of funds allocated for the Program for administrative purposes. To be eligible for financial assistance for losses of agricultural commodities, a person must satisfy all of the following criteria:

(1)        The person experienced a verifiable loss of agricultural commodities as a result of an agricultural disaster in 2024, and the person's farm is located in an affected area for the respective agricultural disaster.

(2)        The agricultural commodity was planted but not harvested on or before January 1, 2024, or, for aquaculture commodities, the commodities were being raised on or before January 1, 2024.

SECTION 3.1.(b)  Verification of Loss. – A person seeking financial assistance for losses of agricultural commodities under the Program shall submit to the Department a Form 578 on file with the USDA Farm Service Agency or a form provided by the Department for reporting acreage or plantings of crops or loss that is not typically reported on Form 578, along with any other documentation deemed appropriate by the Department, no later than 30 days after this section becomes effective. For nursery crops, fruit‑bearing trees and bushes, and specialty crops where the survival level is not immediately known, the Department may extend this deadline by an additional 30 days, upon written request by the person received no later than 30 days after this section becomes effective and upon approval by the Department. A person receiving assistance under this Program must provide a signed affidavit, under penalty of perjury, certifying that each fact of the loss presented by the person is accurate.

SECTION 3.1.(c)  Criteria. – The Department shall administer the financial assistance program authorized by this section in accordance with the following criteria:

(1)        In determining the payment calculation for agricultural commodities, the Department shall use a formula based on acreage, county loss estimates, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service averages, and any other measure the Department deems appropriate. Funds shall be distributed based on county averages for yields and State averages for price. Calculations shall be based on county or State averages in price, whichever the Department determines is appropriate.

(2)        The Department shall gather all claim information, except from those applicants granted a deadline extension, no later than 30 days after this section becomes law. The Department shall, as closely as possible, estimate the amount of the funds needed to be held in reserve for payments related to losses of nursery, bush, tree, and specialty crops for which losses will not be fully known or calculated. The Department shall set aside funds as it deems appropriate based on the estimated percentage of these losses.

(3)        Payments made under this Program shall be made to the person who filed the Form 578 or Department form for claims related to agricultural commodity losses.

SECTION 3.1.(d)  Audit; Documentation. – The Department may audit the financial and other records of each recipient of funds in order to ensure that the funds are used in accordance with the requirements of this Program. The Department may require any documentation or proof it considers necessary to efficiently administer this Program, including the ownership structure of each entity and the social security numbers of each owner. In order to verify losses, the Department may require the submission of dated, signed, and continuous records. These records may include, but are not limited to, commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, pick records, load summaries, contemporaneous measurements, truck scale tickets, contemporaneous diaries, appraisals, ledgers of income, income statements of deposit slips, cash register tape, invoices for custom harvesting, u‑pick records, and insurance documents.

SECTION 3.1.(e)  Expenditure of Awarded Funds. – Awarded funds shall be used for agricultural production expenses and recovery of losses due to the impacts of the agricultural disaster. The Department shall develop guidelines and procedures to ensure that funds are expended for the purposes allowed by this section and may require any documentation it determines necessary to verify the appropriate use of financial assistance awards, including receipts. All distributed funds are subject to federal and State income tax.

SECTION 3.1.(f)  Refund of Award. – If the Department determines that a person who received financial assistance provided inaccurate information, then the person shall refund the entire amount of the financial assistance. If the person does not refund the appropriate amount, the North Carolina Department of Revenue shall collect the money from the person pursuant to G.S. 105‑242.

SECTION 3.1.(g)  Definitions. – For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)        Agricultural commodity. – Any crop, flowering plant, aquaculture species, fruit, grain, native grass, ornamental plant, sod, tree, or vegetable. An agricultural commodity does not include stored grain.

(2)        Agricultural disaster. – A secretarial disaster designation declared by the United States Department of Agriculture Secretary for qualifying counties in this State.

(3)        Department. – The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(4)        Person. – Any individual, trust, estate, partnership, receiver, association, company, limited liability company, corporation, or other entity or group.

(5)        Program. – The 2024 Agricultural Disaster Crop Loss Program.

SECTION 3.1.(h)  Program Reporting Requirement. – The Department shall submit a report to the Fiscal Research Division no later than the first day of the month six months after this section becomes effective, and every six months thereafter until all funds are expended or the Program expires, containing, at a minimum, all of the following data:

(1)        The number of applicants by agricultural commodity and the county in which the person incurred the verified loss.

(2)        The number and amount of grants awarded by agricultural commodity.

(3)        The geographic distribution of the grants awarded.

(4)        The total amount of funding available to the Program, the total amount encumbered, and the total amount disbursed to date.

(5)        Any refunds made to the Program pursuant to subsection (f) of this section.

SECTION 3.1.(i)  Expiration and Reversion. – The Program shall expire 30 months after this section becomes effective. Any funds allocated to the Program not expended or encumbered by that date shall revert to the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund.

part iv. effective date

SECTION 4.1.  This act is effective when it becomes law.