Contact: Don Reuter (919) 715-4112
Date: November 18, 1999
Hunt Announces Cost Share Funds to Assist Poultry Farmers
RALEIGH - Governor Jim Hunt today announced that $1.8 million will be made available to farmers to repair clay floor liners in poultry houses damaged by recent hurricane-related flooding.
Acting on Hunt's request, the N.C. Soil and Water Conservation Commission voted Wednesday to earmark Agriculture Cost Share funds for payment to producers for restoring the liners. The cost-share funds will cover 75 percent of the repair costs. Farmers can use in-kind labor in repairing the floors as their 25 percent match to cover the total costs of the restoration.
"Our poultry farmers have suffered tremendous losses as a result of the flooding and these funds will provide them with immediate and much-needed help," Hunt said. "We will continue to work to find additional funds to help these farmers get back on their feet."
As a result of hurricanes Dennis and Floyd, more than 300 poultry houses sustained damage and 1.3 million turkeys and chickens drowned. The floors of the poultry houses were damaged when Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contractors removed poultry litter slurry and dead birds from the poultry houses.
The state's Agriculture Cost Share Program was established to protect and improve water quality by helping North Carolina farmers reduce run-off pollution. The program is administered by the Division of Soil and Water Conservation in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Participating farmers receive 75 percent of predetermined average costs of installed best management practices (BMPs) with the remaining 25 percent paid by farmers directly or through in-kind contributions.
"We have determined that the clay floors in these houses serve in a capacity similar to a clay liner for a lagoon," said Dewey Botts, DENR's assistant secretary for Natural Resources. "Repairing them represents a water quality protection measure and is an appropriate use of the cost share funds."
The commission has set a December 31 deadline for producers to apply to soil and water conservation districts for the funds. Interested farmers should contact their local Soil and Water Districts or the Division of Soil and Water Conservation at (919) 733-2302.
To help eastern North Carolina rebuild, Hunt has requested $1.9 billion in federal aid for immediate unmet needs. The package is pending in Congress and addresses losses because of the storms, drought conditions in the state this year and depressed commodity prices.
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