Hurricane Helene leaves Western North Carolina farmers struggling with losses

Agriculture across multiple mountain counties has been significantly impacted by floods from Hurricane Helene.

The WNC Regional Livestock Center in Canton, N.C. has been packed with supplies instead of cattle in the weeks following Helene. Farmers from the area said they lost dozens of cattle and many lost land.

Annie Ager and Addie Lalumondier operate Hickory Nut Gap Farms, a non-profit in Fairview, N.C.

"We get hay from guys locally, and then some of them have lost it because of bad weather," said Ager.

The two told News 13 that while their barn escaped damage, not everything else was spared.

"The rest of the farm area was pretty damaged and like Annie said our access to hay has been pretty compromised," said Lalumondier.

As word spread, hay was soon stacked all around to help farmers in need recover.

"I'm amazed at the amount of people donating," said Ager. "It's incredible."

People are coming from far and wide to the livestock center to drop feed off for animals and volunteers are also bringing materials that are needed.

"We're just collecting stuff and bringing it up here," said Billy Farmer.

He and his wife, Janice, have made multiple trips from Georgia to help WNC farmers.

"Right now, they're asking for a lot of fencing," said Farmer.

Billy said he and his wife especially want to help the animals.

"It's the livestock and the animals — dogs, cats, chickens, horses, goats; they're the ones that can't help themselves," he said.

Terry Kelley, Henderson County's Tree Fruit Agent with the Extension Office, said Henderson County is "pretty big in agriculture," telling News 13 the crop loss from Helene is "massive."

"The crop loss alone could easily exceed 50 million dollars," said Kelley.

As Henderson County is also known for apples and other perennial crops, including peaches and blackberries, Kelley said there is more than the initial loss from the storm.

"These trees and plants that were lost when they're replaced, we're not going to be getting any yield from them from anywhere from 2 to 5 years," he said. "It's a very big loss and it has a lot of multipliers involved."

Like many, Henderson County will look for assistance at all levels.

"The USDA has several programs that will be able to help some of our farmers and some of them have insurance, so that's a good help too," said Kelley. "But it doesn't cover all the costs and all the loss."

Kelley said he believes recovery will take a long time.

Visit the Hickory Nut Gap Farm for more information.