Connecticut Farmers Get $53M Disaster Relief

0:00Connecticut farmers are finally close to getting their $53 million slice of federal disaster relief. It's been 16 months since Congress set up this block-ram program for damages from wild weather in 2023 and 2024. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins just told lawmakers it's at the finish line for the state after tons of meetings and back and forth. The A target smaller farming states like those in New England, plus Hawaii and Alaska, focusing on specialty crops that big commodity growers. Usually snag more help for. Connecticut picked a state-run version of the program for more flexibility, passing on a bigger $21 billion federal supplemental pot. That might not cover their unique operations as well. Congresswoman Rosa Deloro pressed Rollins on the hold-up, stressing how no money has flowed to eligible states yet, and asking if small farmers are A. Real priority. To assure her they're pushing hard, even saying she checked that morning and wrote the

1:00elevator with an undersecretary who confirmed there, wrapping it up. Delays piled up from a 43-day government shutdown last year that stalled talks between state and federal ag departments. Now negotiations are back on track, with funds set to roll out as needed when the state pays farmers aiming to beat the 2026 planting. Season around April, state ag officials get the pain from these losses and hold-ups, vowing fair relief hits the ground soon, to ease the strain on producers still, recovering. That's your Hartford News Today update, AI powered and always on.