By Galen Bacharier for NC Newsline

Leaders across North Carolina’s agricultural sector painted a dire picture Tuesday of many of their industries — with crops, infrastructure and soil in western North Carolina destroyed by Hurricane Helene.

After an already difficult growing season, Helene capped a year that has “been awful for agriculture,” Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler told House lawmakers.

“We’ve got a real mess on our hands in North Carolina agriculture,” Troxler said. “But we can fix it.”

The most damaging and deadly storm in state history landed a major blow on many of the state’s agricultural commodity groups.

Acres of crops were swept away down flooded rivers. Topsoil in many regions has been washed away. Equipment and infrastructure are badly damaged or beyond repair.

Blocked waterways and downed forests, if they’re not dealt with, could mean even more damage come more rain or fire season.

Rodney Buchanan, president of the NC Christmas Trees Association, warned that “catastrophic” damage could result in land used for timber being developed into high-end summer homes — “which will not help our economy that much,” he said.

And dairy sellers have lost crops, cows and even entire markets, said Doug Holland, president of the NC Dairy Producers Association.

“They simply don’t have a place to sell their product now,” Holland said.

Their message to state lawmakers was clear — significant investment, including from the state, is needed to keep the sector above water.

“It’s going to take huge money to help these people recover,” said Jimmy Gentry, president of the agricultural advocacy group NC Grange. “I hope you’ll keep that in mind. Assistance is going to be needed for a long time to come.”

Matt Grissom, president of the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina, farms tobacco, wheat and soybean in Vance County.

He told legislators that catastrophic weather, inflation and rising input costs have made it a dire time for farmers facing financial uncertainty.

“We are looking at a time where you could see one in every five farms will not be able to operate in 2025,” warned Grissom. “We are looking at a time where generations have put these farms in place for people my age and my generation, and we could possibly be the last generation to farm without something changing. ”

Troxler, who was reelected to his sixth consecutive four-year term of office in November, said the state would need to adapt aid programs to better suit the mountains’ industries, as well as prepare for a crunch in financing next year’s crop.

“We’ve spent the past five years … bringing industry into North Carolina,” Troxler said. “We’ve got that industry here now, and it needs some help. We can fix it, and with your help, we will fix it.”

The House returns to Raleigh this week to vote on a wide-ranging executive power bill, as well as meet for the first time on a select committee for Helene relief. Despite pleas from western North Carolina elected officials, advocates and residents, lawmakers are not expected to approve any further aid before the end of the year.

The Department of Agriculture maintains a webpage dedicated to emergency programs and disaster information that can be accessed by clicking here.

NC Newsline’s Clayton Henkel contributed to this report.

The preceding article originally appeared on December 11, 2024 at NCNewsline’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Photo above by Kate Payne for the Associated Press.