Rhode Island opens nearly $15 million in farm disaster relief after 2023 and 2024 storms

Photo taken by George Sisca - SNN

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island is preparing to distribute nearly $15 million in disaster relief to agricultural producers who suffered eligible weather-related losses in 2023 or 2024.

The Department of Environmental Management announced the program Monday, Sept. 21. It expects applications to open during the first week of October, although it has not posted an exact opening date. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is intended to address losses that other USDA disaster programs did not cover.

That leaves farmers with a practical task now: determine whether their losses fit the rules and gather the records needed to document them.

DEM says eligible applicants must have had an ownership share and production risk in affected crops, livestock or timber. Eligible losses must have occurred in Rhode Island as a direct result of a 2023 or 2024 weather event and must total at least $2,500 across the categories claimed. The state lists infrastructure, future economic, market and timber losses, along with certain practices needed to prevent land loss, among the categories it may consider. Meeting those basic conditions does not guarantee a payment.

At Phantom Farms, Jodi, who spelled her name “with an i,” told SNN she “was not aware of this funding” and “would bring this information to the other managers.” SNN provided the farm with questions about whether it had eligible losses and might apply. SNN also provided questions to Adams Farm, but did not visit that farm. Neither farm had provided answers to those questions when this story was prepared.

Rhode Island farmers have had access to other agricultural grants and federal disaster programs. DEM Director Terry Gray described this as the first time the department has received this type of disaster funding directly. That is a narrower claim than saying Rhode Island farmers have never received disaster assistance before.

DEM says it will offer technical help with eligibility and applications. Producers can monitor the state program page and submit questions through the form linked there. For now, the application window is approaching. The state has not announced that applications are open or that individual farms have been approved.