Eligible farmers in Connecticut can start applying for funds from a nearly $53 million federal disaster relief program that officials finalized over the summer after a series of delays.
Gov. Ned Lamont, Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture Bryan Hurlburt and members of Congress announced Tuesday the application portal is up and running. Farmers can apply for the first round of grants through Oct. 7.
The initial application period will be open for four weeks, and a second round is expected for later in the fall. The agriculture agency will host a live webinar on Sept. 17 to help farmers learn about the application process and answer questions.
Farmers are eligible if they earn $1,000 in farm revenue for given years and experienced a minimum loss of $500 in disaster-related losses in 2023, 2024 or both years. Following the approval process, payments to producers are expected to start in mid-October.
Assistance through the grant program can go toward crop production loss, damages to agricultural structures and farm infrastructure, or perennial crop losses that lead to multi-year production losses.
“Since signing our agreement with USDA, our priority has been making sure every eligible Connecticut farmer has a clear, easy path to apply,” Hurlburt said in a press release. “We’ve built the tools, partnered with industry groups, and created checklists and guides so farmers can submit with confidence. Now we are asking farmers to take the next step: apply. This funding is designed for you to reinvest in your farm, strengthen your business, and help keep Connecticut’s local food system vibrant.”
Federal lawmakers, led by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, enacted the $220 million Farm Recovery and Support Block Grant program included in a government funding deal in December 2024. But its implementation hit a number of snags and delays: a clash over the terms of the program and a record-long government shutdown that interrupted negotiations last year.
But state officials celebrated the news in July that Connecticut had finalized its $52.9 million allotment. The state worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to finalize the agreement and execute a contract to unlock the millions of dollars in funding.
Connecticut farmers have been awaiting access to such relief after experiencing damages caused by disasters and extreme weather events in 2023 and 2024. Killam and Bassette Farmstead in South Glastonbury, where officials made Tuesday’s announcement about the application portal, was one of the 200 farms in Connecticut that reported losses during that period of time.
In 2023, farmers were badly hit after flooding along the Connecticut River. A year later, the state saw flash floods in the western part of the state and a hail storm in central Connecticut.
The program was largely inspired by William Dellacamera, a constituent of DeLauro who worked with her to get federal funding to help smaller farmers. The hail storm in August 2024 destroyed his crops in 13 minutes.
A month after the storm, Dellacamera traveled to Washington, D.C., on his tractor to push for help from the federal government. As months went by with few developments and ongoing negotiations, he returned to the nation’s capital to ask about the status of the farm block grant. He met with U.S. Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins last spring and made his plea for the quick rollout of the money for small and midsize farmers.
Dellacamera made repeated trips to D.C. to advocate for the implementation of the $220 million block grant that’s been divided between all states in New England and Hawaii and Alaska. Connecticut was awarded $53 million of that last August, but it wasn’t able to start the process of doling out money until the state and federal agriculture agencies executed a contract. That happened in early July.
“We all need it, that’s for sure,” Dellacamera said in an interview when Connecticut finalized the program in July. “Now, hopefully, within a few months, we all get some real money we need.”
The federal program was geared toward smaller farming states that grow more specialty crops and don’t typically benefit from federal aid in the same ways as larger commodity producers. DeLauro, who serves as the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, has called the block grant program a “success story” and credited Dellacamera’s persistence on the issue.
“This money is long overdue, but it is on the way,” DeLauro said in a press release Tuesday. “The opening of the application portal brings us one massive step closer to farmers receiving the relief they are owed. Today, we are announcing that the aid we fought so hard for these last two years is ready for their taking.”
Payments will be determined by identifying a farmer’s best revenue year between 2020 and 2025. They will take that number and subtract the disaster losses from 2023, 2024 or both years. A farmer can expect to get 95% of that difference up to $1 million as the maximum award. Any past crop insurance payments will be deducted.
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.
