RALEIGH – Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced today that the application period will open Monday, March 30, for three of the four categories that producers can apply for $221 million in USDA block grant disaster assistance for Hurricane Helene losses. The block grant has four program categories, with an application required for each category in each county that a farmer or landowner qualifies for. The categories are:
Press Releases
To commemorate the annual tree-planting holiday, the N.C. Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry program has announced that 73 communities, 12 campuses and five utilities have been awarded 2025 Tree City USA, 2025 Tree Campus Higher Education and 2026 Tree Line USA designations. North Carolina observes Arbor Day the first Friday following March 15, while National Arbor Day is held the last Friday in April each year.
RALEIGH – Applications are now being accepted through April 13 for the N.C. Agriculture Manufacturing and Processing Initiative, which was created to fund and promote the establishment of value-added agricultural manufacturing and food processing facilities in North Carolina. The program includes $4.3 million in available funding to support eligible projects.
With North Carolina’s spring wildfire season arriving at a time when most of the state is experiencing moderate to severe drought, the N.C. Forest Service is urging the public to apply best practices and common sense with all outdoor fire, especially yard debris burns.
RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has identified infestations of spongy moth in seven counties across North Carolina that it anticipates treating in 2026.
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is announcing a rebranded and streamlined grant program – NCAIR – that supports agricultural research and the state’s agricultural economy.The program previously awarded funding through three areas of focus – the Bioenergy Research Initiative, the New and Emerging Crops Program and Innovations to Advance the Agriculture Economy. Those initiatives are now known solely as North Carolina Agriculture Innovations & Research or NCAIR.
FLETCHER – The 2026 N.C. Mountain State Fair is accepting applications for food and commercial vendors, heritage crafters, wholesale vendor suppliers and Got to Be NC members for the annual fair which runs Sept. 11-20 in Fletcher.
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Standards Division fined 10 stores in nine counties for price scanning errors during the final quarter of 2025.
RALEIGH – Deadlines are coming up quickly for vendors, concessionaires, suppliers, Got to Be NC members and farm equipment hobbyists interested in participating in the Got to Be Festival May 15-17 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.
RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has confirmed an established presence of the invasive spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) in Davidson, Rowan and Caswell counties, bringing the total number of counties where established populations of this destructive pest has been found in the state to seven.