After a year and a half of delays, Connecticut has finalized its $53 million allotment of federal disaster relief for farmers. The state and federal agriculture agencies worked through the final steps in early July, approving the program design and executing a contract that unlocks Connecticut’s funding.

Eligibility and Application Process

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture is now working to get the application portal up and running by early fall. 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.

Payments will be determined by identifying a farmer’s best revenue year between 2020 and 2025, subtracting the disaster losses, and providing 95% of that difference up to $1 million as the maximum award. Any past crop insurance payments will be deducted.

Background and Advocacy

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. Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture Bryan Hurlburt said his agency is working with contractors to develop the application portal and provide webinars and demos for farmers to learn how the program will work.

William Dellacamera, a farmer who helped lead the charge to get federal funding, traveled to Washington, D.C., on his tractor to push for help from the federal government after a hail storm destroyed his crops in 2024. He worked with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro on the creation of the fund and throughout the process of getting it up and running.

Original reporting: The Connecticut Mirror — read the source article.