AIKEN, SC (WCSC) – State leaders are calling agriculture the food of South Carolina, and 2024 has been a challenging year for farmers in the Palmetto State.

Between Helene, Debby and the summer drought, the state estimates South Carolina farmers took a hit of more than $600 million this year alone.

Officials said it will take a combination of federal, state and local resources, plus help from nonprofits and the private sector, for South Carolinians to recover.

They aim to bring them together for those in the agricultural sector for a series of events that began Friday, called “Farm and Forest Recovery Resource Days.”

“If you’re looking for help and you don’t know where to go, then you don’t know where to go. But often you have to go to this part of town, then to another town, then to another place, if you know where to go,” Gov. Henry McMaster said Friday.

It’s a tough situation the governor said they don’t want South Carolina farmers to find themselves in, especially now.

The state’s agriculture commissioner said no farmer has been spared a loss this year in the Palmetto State between the drought and the two devastating storms.

In response, the state launched Farm and Forest Recovery Resource Days, the first of which McMaster attended in Aiken.

“It answers their questions, and a human person who knows the answers gives them the answers,” McMaster said.

Among the roughly two dozen organizations with representatives on site Friday at USC Aiken, where the event was held, was FEMA.

The federal agency said there is still time for South Carolinians who suffered damage from Helene — farmers and nonfarmers alike — to apply for assistance if they live in one of the 28 approved counties, along with the Catawba Nation.

“This assistance can be used for basic home repairs, a temporary place to stay. If you are a farmer and your equipment has been damaged, you may be able to get assistance that way for possible fuel as well,” said FEMA Media Relations Specialist Nikki Gaskins Campbell.

As of Thursday, FEMA said it had approved more than $221 million in Helene assistance for more than 216,000 South Carolina households.

“FEMA assistance was never designed to bring someone back to their pre-disaster condition or to make them whole,” Gaskins Campbell said. “However, we can help them get back on their feet.”

McMaster is optimistic that more help will soon be on the way.

Last week, he wrote a letter to South Carolina’s congressional delegation asking for additional assistance specifically for the critical agriculture industry.

“Creating, I think, $631 million in appropriations to do the same thing for farmers and forest that FEMA did on the home and business side of the equation,” McMaster said.

Two more of these resource days will be held in the coming weeks in Greenville and Myrtle Beach:

• Greenville: Thursday, November 21, 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Greenville Technical College, Student Success Center, 506 S. Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville, SC
• Myrtle Beach: Friday, December 6th, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm SC Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting at the Embassy Suites at Kingston Plantation, 9800 Queensway Boulevard, Myrtle Beach, SC

The following agencies and organizations will have representatives available to explain event assistance options:

• AgSouth – Providing farm, equipment, timber and agribusiness loan, crop insurance and lease information.

• Clemson University Extension – Assisting people in finding resources to support farm business decisions during storm recovery.

• Farmer Veteran Coalition of SC – Connecting veteran farmers to technical resources, grants and educational opportunities.

• Federal Emergency Management Agency – Providing information about registering for storm-related financial assistance.

• Internal Revenue Service – Providing information on available federal disaster tax provisions.

• Small Business Administration – Providing assistance with business start-ups, SBA loans and federal contracting.

• SC Conservation Bank – Providing information on agricultural land grants.

• SC Department of Agriculture – Will be on site for support and discussion.

• SC Department of Commerce – Providing businesses with information on services such as small business resources, innovation, trade, recycling, industry assistance and emergency management.

• SC Department of Employment and Workforce – Providing information on home inspections of any storm-damaged employer-owned homes prior to Foreign Employment Gateway applications and unemployment benefits, including Assistance for disaster unemployment and employer services.

• SC Department of Environmental Service – Assisting farms and tree producers with storm debris management options, well water sampling and regulated dam issues.

• SC Insurance Department – ​​Providing information on insurance claims, coverage and fraud prevention.

• SC Department of Mental Health – Providing information about available mental health services.

• SC Department of Natural Resources – Supports local soil and water conservation districts that provide conservation technical assistance to South Carolina farmers and tree producers and help identify funding opportunities.

• SC Department of Veterans Affairs – Providing referrals for identified veterans and their families that are available through the South Carolina Veterans Coalition.

• SC Division of Emergency Management – ​​Providing information on statewide planning for recovery and grant and assistance program availability and eligibility.

• SC Forestry Commission – Providing management support to forest owners, including timber damage assessment, salvage harvesting, replanting guidance, information on financial assistance for repairs and fee-based services such as fire plowing and prescribed burning.

• SC Office of Resilience – Providing case managers to assist eligible citizens with unmet needs caused by disasters.

• SC Small Business Development Centers – Providing free private consulting to assist disaster-affected small and medium-sized farms with recovery planning, financing, damage assessment and other recovery needs.

• SC State University – Providing technical services, support and guidance for recovery in areas such as agriculture, forestry, health, families, natural resources, youth development and more.

• USDA Farm Services Agency – Providing information on disaster programs that provide cost assistance and emergency loans to help farmers and producers recover from land, crop and livestock losses due to a natural disaster.

• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service – Providing financial and technical assistance information to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners.

• Other federal, state, and local nonprofit organizations.

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