In September, the Northford farmer made headlines when he drove his tractor from Connecticut to the U.S. Capitol after a hail storm ripped through his farm. His mission: to secure emergency federal funding for smaller farmers like him.
Recently, as he walked by his fields — they'll have ripe strawberries in about a month — he mused about another trip to the nation's capital some time in the future, perhaps hoping to make a similar pitch. But when he heard the U.S. secretary of agriculture would testify in the upcoming week, he moved up the timeline and changed his plans.
It was going to rain in Connecticut anyway.
Dellacamera wanted to hear about the status of a $220 million federal block grant tailored for small- and medium-sized farmers who don't typically benefit from federal programs as much as those in larger farming states. He figured his best chance to make the case was in person. He and other farmers need that disaster aid immediately.
He booked his trip on a recent weekend and traveled to D.C. last Monday (this time by train). He didn't know what to expect on his impromptu trip, except his plan to attend a pair of hearings. But it turned out that 48 hours after he got there, Dellacamera got face time with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and a lengthy shoutout during one of the hearings from his representative, Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District.
Congress passed the Farm Recovery and Support Block Grant Program in late December as part of its year-end spending package. That legislation also included $23 million in agriculture disaster and economic relief for Connecticut.
The block grant program, championed by DeLauro and inspired in part by Dellacamera, will go to those in New England, Hawaii and Alaska who sustained damages caused by severe weather in 2023 and 2024. That includes crop, timber and livestock losses. Farmers and producers can qualify whether or not they have crop insurance.
But farmers in Connecticut like Dellacamera are still waiting to see if they qualify. The funding has been in limbo as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agencies still need to finalize agreements and allocations for each of the eight participating states. But Rollins confirmed USDA is working to get the funds out soon — both the block grant and the larger $21 billion to cover agriculture losses caused by natural disasters.
As things stand, Connecticut doesn't know how much it will get. In January, the state's agriculture department submitted a request of $83 million. That includes $72 million in reported losses, a 2% administration fee and $10 million for resiliency projects.
Creating a new federal funding stream is difficult. Implementing one is even harder. But Dellacamera — and some of the New England lawmakers — wanted answers. For him and other farmers in Connecticut, they need the money to pay their bills.
"I texted some of my other farmer friends, and all they say is, 'Do you think you’ll get anything from going down there? Like what are you wasting your time for?' But I don’t see it as a waste of time," Dellacamera said.
"It was just a perfect alignment," he said about the hearings and Rollins' appearances at them. "Let me just go down there. I got nothing to lose at this point. So I was able to put a face to the story."
From Connecticut to Washington, D.C.
Dellacamera didn’t come to D.C. as part of a group or a coordinated effort. He made the trip as a self-described "lone wolf."
The first hearing on Tuesday was the bigger question mark. He showed up not knowing whether the block grant program would come up or if Rollins would stop to talk.
Rollins came to Capitol Hill to testify before House and Senate committees about President Donald J. Trump's budget request. Trump proposed cutting USDA's budget by 18% as 15,000 employees at the agency took deferred resignations that would place them on paid leave through September. Some employees in key offices won't have their resignations accepted, and Rollins testified they are looking to fill some of these roles.
Her first stop was at a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday. About 20 people watched her testimony from the wood-paneled hearing room. Dellacamera took a seat behind her a few rows back and was visible in the livestream.
She fielded questions for over an hour about Trump's budget proposal, workforce reductions, USDA funding cuts and office relocation plans. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire specifically asked about the status of the $220 million block grant.
When the hearing wrapped, Dellacamera introduced himself to Rollins at the door. She listened intently as he told her about the hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses that culminated after a 13-minute hail storm in August — and the creditors who have not stopped calling since.
Rollins told him to hang in there and relay to the creditors that a piece of the $220 million is coming his way soon.
A USDA staffer assured him they are working on the program and noted that DeLauro is working with them to get it implemented. He exchanged numbers with her staff.
Dellacamera was pleasantly surprised by the interaction. He said he was not expecting the response he got on Capitol Hill or for Rollins to stop and speak with him. He left the interaction feeling that she was honest and earnest about wanting to help. Though he added that "the ball's in her court."
As he weaved through crowded hallways, more people took notice of his shirt that read "No farmers, no food, no future." He easily stood out in a sea of suits.
He was hundreds of miles from Northford but was instantly recognizable to those who know him. He was in a Senate office building when someone called out "Willie." It was U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who was on his way to go vote.
They shook hands and talked about his brief encounter with Rollins. Dellacamera joked that the interaction was different from the contentious one he had with Blumenthal when the senator visited his farm after last year's hail storm. Tuesday's exchange was cordial and light-hearted.
A couple of hours later, he met with DeLauro's staff in her office to talk through the hearing the next day. As the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, the congresswoman would get the opportunity to mention him by name during her opening statement.
The two have worked together closely in the past and again after the hail damaged his farm. Dellacamera's story was one of the reasons DeLauro and Connecticut's congressional delegation helped create the farm relief block grant in December.
"When I went to D.C. [last year], I didn't know what I was going to get, and I figured whatever I get is a blessing," Dellacamera said last week from Cecarelli's Harrison Hill Farm. "That's called a Christmas present. I had no expectations of it even being like that."
"It wasn't only for me. It was for everybody in the state of Connecticut that doesn't have insurance, that can't get insurance, that can't afford insurance, that is barred from insurance," he continued. Dellacamera has crop insurance and got a small payout after the hail storm. But many specialty crop farmers in the state don't have it.
He felt confident DeLauro would advocate for faster implementation of the program at the next hearing. And after his conversation with Rollins on Tuesday, Dellacamera was hopeful he would get more face time with the U.S. agriculture secretary the next day.
At Wednesday's hearing over on the House side, Dellacamera wasn't the only person in the audience from Connecticut. Representatives with the New England Farmers Union were in the room along with another farmer from the state, Robert Chang. Connecticut Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt already had plans to be in D.C. for the day and stopped by the hearing.
Sitting next to Dellacamera was David Senter, who was part of the 1979 Tractorcade, when thousands of farmers drove tractors to D.C. in protest of rising interest rates, falling crop prices and foreclosures. Senter, as part of the American Agriculture Movement, drove his tractor from Texas for days until he reached Washington.
When it was DeLauro's turn to deliver her opening statement, she put the spotlight on the Connecticut farmers in the room. Dellacamera was sitting right behind Rollins, and she turned around to shake his hand.
"I will work with you to make sure that this support gets out as the Congress intended. To date, Willie Dellacamera has not received one dime," DeLauro said to Rollins at the hearing.
When it was her turn to ask questions, DeLauro got heated when asking Rollins about the status of the block grant program.
Rollins vowed to get that money out and urged patience, given that she took the helm of USDA three months ago and the program was created two months before that. She cautioned that the need from all eight states will likely exceed what has been appropriated by Congress.
"We’ll do everything we can. It’s my understanding it may not be enough. That in fact, the losses are bigger than the $220 million," Rollins said.
DeLauro interjected, continuing to press her if USDA is committed to the program.
"Ma'am, it was three months ago. The last administration took more than a year. This is extremely complicated," Rollins said in response as DeLauro continued to interject. "Your ag commissioner is coming in today to talk about it, so I think I've given a lot of confidence that we're working really hard on that and doing everything we can."
The back-and-forth ended with a commitment from Rollins: "For the 10th time since I started 40 minutes ago, it will begin to flow by the end of the month."
When asked about the exchange after the hearing, DeLauro said she wanted to get a concrete answer that the program wouldn't end up on the chopping block given the cuts and frozen funds at USDA and across the federal government the past few months.
"They're monkeying around with so many of the programs, but I wanted to know that the commitment held firm on the $220 million, and now she said the money was going out at the end of the month, so we will hold her to that," DeLauro said. "I take that as a commitment not to mess with the program and to get the money out."
But the other parties involved in the block grant program are skeptical of that quick timeframe.
Dellacamera said it is possible Connecticut and other states could finish up their contracts by the end of the month. But getting money into farmers' pockets will likely take longer.
Hurlburt also said the end of May deadline would be a tough schedule. The agriculture commissioner spoke with USDA staff earlier in the week as part of their standing weekly meeting. He said they reviewed the three frameworks for the program that he proposed in January.
But those initial steps have hit some delays. March was the original timeline he received for finalizing contracts with states. He is still looking for clarity on how much each state will receive and the application process for farmers who are about to be in a busy season.
Hurlburt said he's working to get things sorted out between federal and state partners, "but it's going to be a very aggressive timeline to meet any sort of May deadline if we don't have a contract or an allocation or an understanding of the program."
"Depending on how complicated they want to make it and what the paperwork requirements would be for individual farmers is going to be determining how quickly we can move," he said.
Once the state secures a formal agreement with USDA, the next steps entail an open comment period where impacted farmers can weigh in on the program, followed by formalizing an application, keeping that application period open for 30 days and then verifying applicants to make sure they're eligible. Then they will disburse the funds.
Because he showed up to the hearings, Dellacamera was invited to attend USDA's press conference later Wednesday. There was a small hiccup when he arrived. He was flagged in the system as a known person of interest — likely from when he drove down to D.C. and parked his tractor in front of the building — but it got quickly resolved. He said he got another shoutout when discussing the rollout of federal disaster aid.
Pending federal assistance
Dellacamera believes some progress was made and felt the trip was worth his time. But he remains skeptical about the timeline laid out and said he will keep pushing to ensure the direct aid for farmers gets doled out sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, as he waits to see what kind of federal aid he'll receive, Cecarelli's Harrison Hill Farm is planting and preparing for upcoming harvests and food programs.
A week ago, workers were planting lettuce on a humid and overcast day. The nearby flowering plants started to show tiny yellow strawberries that will be ready with fruit in the next 25 to 30 days. The strawberries got hit hard by the hail storm, but Dellacamera said "they came back to life" based on the stage they were in at the time.
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil are currently growing in the greenhouses. Behind them sits the tractor that Dellacamera drove on state roads to get to D.C.
There are reminders of the 13-minute hail storm that hit last August all around the farm — including dents in buildings, the greenhouses and the sign that sits at the edge of the road. Dellacamera farms on a total of 120 acres in the area.
In mid-June, the farm will restart its Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA. On top of that, he will finish up his work of sending boxes to food banks before a federal initiative that provides communities with local, healthy food ends in October.
Cecarelli's was also one of the first farms that was part of the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, which the Trump administration cancelled on March 7. The farm delivered 600 boxes of food a week to a church in West Haven.
The 2025 LFPA agreement awarded the Connecticut Department of Agriculture with $3.7 million that would run through 2027. But that future funding was terminated, and the current money will run out for Dellacamera and other participating farmers in October.
The state agency said by the end of last year, 516 distribution locations provided food to communities coming from 131 producers across Connecticut. With those pots of money, schools and food banks could supply healthier food to those in need with the mutual benefit of sourcing from local farmers and producers.
The cancellation of the LFPA and the Local Food for Schools program came up during the hearings. Rollins testified they are COVID-era programs that were not intended to run long term and would be unfair to taxpayers. She noted that many states still have money left to spend. Dellacamera and other participants and supporters of the programs rebuff that argument.
The loss of that funding is a double whammy for Dellacamera.
"I need the block grant to pay my bills off, but I know I’m losing the food box money, so it’s severely going to impact what goes on there," he said.
It is unclear whether Dellacamera will get assistance through the block grant or the $21 billion of natural disaster money for farmers that also passed at the end of last year. Rollins said Tuesday that farmers will be able to access a portal in the next several weeks so they can apply for the latter grant.
For him, the channel doesn't matter as long as he can pay his bills.
"I might not get a big chunk of that $220 [million] because I'm already going to get it from the $21 billion. But I'm fine with that, because I think it's more money for my other farmer friends that didn't get money," he said. "As long as I get X, Y, Z I'm supposed to get, I don't care which pot it comes from."
But without access to any of those emergency dollars, Dellacamera wonders how long he and others will be able to keep up operations — or even want to — with the specter of future disasters that threaten their farmland.
"But why ... will any of us farmers want to keep going when that's the support we get? Why would I or any other farmer want to have to even keep farming, right?" he said. "If that's what it's going to be, year after year, disaster after disaster."
The Connecticut Mirror/Connecticut Public Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
