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Vermont agriculture leaders say federal block grant will follow state damage reports from 2023–24 floods and frost
Summary
Agency of Agriculture officials told the Senate Agriculture Committee that Vermont submitted loss data to USDA for a $220 million New England, Hawaii and Alaska block grant to compensate producers for 2023–24 severe-weather losses and that the state’s BGAP program has paid partial relief to farmers.
Secretary Anson Tebbetts, head of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Jan. 16 that the agency has submitted its data on 2023–24 farm losses to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and expects a federal allocation that could fund flexible relief to affected producers.
“The total pot of money is $220,000,000 that will come to New England and those Hawaii and Alaska,” Tebbetts said, describing a USDA approach in which New England states will receive a direct appropriation and states will design grant programs to distribute funds to farmers.
The secretary and his staff briefed senators on the scope of recent losses: a hard frost in May 2023 that they estimated at about $10 million in lost fruit and vine crops, a July 2023 flood that the agency estimated at roughly $70 million in food-system losses, roughly $3 million in forestry losses, and additional 2024 flood impacts that the agency estimated at about $14 million. The totals given to the committee were offered as the agency’s current best estimates.
Senate members asked how the federal funds will be prioritized. Tebbetts said USDA has not prescribed detailed conditions and that the agency has asked whether mitigation actions (for example, moving hoop houses out of flood plains) would be eligible. He said the state has submitted requests to USDA and is waiting for an allocation and guidance.
Michelle (last name not specified), co-chair of the state’s Ag Recovery Task Force, described the state Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BGAP), a state-funded program that paid 30% of verified physical damages reported on applications. Michelle said the agency received roughly $13.5 million in reported agricultural damages through the program and paid out about $2.7 million under BGAP. She noted growers reported an additional roughly $5 million in forest-products damage.
Tebbetts cautioned that USDA wants to prevent double payments from different federal programs and that the state will need to coordinate the incoming block grant with existing federal crop-loss programs administered by FSA.
Committee members requested follow-up briefings on BGAP design and eligibility, and agency staff said they will develop messaging and application processes once USDA provides the award amount and constraints.
Ending
Agency staff asked senators to share the upcoming program details with constituent farmers once the state receives its federal allocation, and they emphasized the state will seek to make the application process straightforward and to prioritize timely outreach.
