North Carolina § 106-2 - Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services established; Board of Agriculture, membership, terms of office, etc.

§ 106-2. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services established; Board of Agriculture, membership, terms of office, etc.

Department and Board Established. - The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is created and established and shall be under the control of the Commissioner of Agriculture, with the consent and advice of a board to be established and named "The Board of Agriculture." Membership; Qualifications. - The Board of Agriculture shall consist of the Commissioner of Agriculture, who shall be an ex officio member and chairman thereof and shall preside at all meetings, and of 11 other members from the State, so distributed as to reasonably represent the different sections and agriculture of the State. The Commissioner of Agriculture and the members of the Board of Agriculture shall be practicing farmers engaged in their profession. The members of the Board shall be appointed by the Governor by and with the consent of the Senate. In the appointment of the members of the Board the Governor shall also take into consideration the different agricultural interests of the State, and shall appoint members with the following qualifications: One member who shall be a practicing tobacco farmer to represent the tobacco farming interest. One member who shall be a practicing cotton grower to represent the cotton interest. One member who shall be a practicing fruit or vegetable farmer to represent the fruit and vegetable farming interest. One member who shall be a practicing dairy farmer to represent the dairy and cattle interest of the State. One member who shall be a practicing poultryman to represent the poultry interest of the State. One member who shall be a practicing peanut grower to represent the peanut interests of the State. One member who shall be experienced in marketing to represent the marketing of products of the State. One member who shall be actively involved in forestry to represent the forestry interests of the State. One member who shall be actively involved in the nursery business to represent the nursery industry of the State. One member who shall be a practicing general farmer to represent the general farming interest. One member who shall be a practicing pork farmer to represent the swine interest of the State. Terms. - The term of office of members of the Board shall be six years and until their successors are duly appointed and qualified. Vacancies. - Vacancies in the Board shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired term. History (Code, s. 2184; 1901, c. 479, ss. 2, 4; Rev., s. 3931; 1907, c. 497, s. 1; C.S., s. 4667; 1931, c. 360, s. 1; 1937, c. 174; 1995, c. 509, s. 53; 1997-261, ss. 15, 16; 2011-145, s. 13.22A(dd); 2013-99, s. 1; 2013-342, s. 1.) State Government Reorganization. - The Board of Agriculture was transferred by G.S. 143A-59 , enacted by Session Laws, 1971, c. 864. Editor's Note. - For information regarding Agricultural Drought Response Cost Share Program, see Session Laws 2008-107, s. 12.4(a)-(e) under G.S. 106-840 and G.S. 106-850 . Session Laws 2013-84, s. 1, provides: "The Piedmont Triad Farmers Market is hereby designated the Robert G. Shaw Piedmont Triad Farmers Market in recognition of Robert G. Shaw's dedicated leadership in the North Carolina General Assembly and his commitment to the citizens of this State, the Piedmont Triad region, and Guilford County." Session Laws 2013-99, s. 2, made the amendments to this section by Session Laws 2013-99, s. 1, applicable to appointments to the Board of Agriculture made on or after July 1, 2013. Session Laws 2013-342, s. 3, made the amendment to this section by Session Laws 2013-342, s. 1, applicable to appointments to the Board of Agriculture made on or after September 1, 2013. Session Laws 2018-136, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as '2018 Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Act."' Session Laws 2018-136, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 5.11(a)-( l ), as amended by Session Laws 2018-138, s. 2.5(a), (b), and, as amended by Session Laws 2018-141, s. 1-3, provides: "(a) The General Assembly finds that: "(1) The historic flood and other impacts of Hurricane Florence in September of 2018 caused unprecedented damage to the State and its people, with particular devastating statewide impacts on North Carolina farmers and the State's agriculture industry. "(2) The State has over 50,000 farms across over 8 million acres, which generates 87 billion dollars of economic impact annually and represents the State's number one industry, making it a vital component to a healthy state economy. "(3) The total loss of crops as a result of the flooding is estimated at over a billion dollars and the estimated federal crop insurance payments will only cover a percentage of the total crop loss. "(4) The federal crop insurance program as authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill is an inadequate method of indemnification as compared to traditional forms of insurance and is not sufficient to aid farmers with substantial losses due to catastrophic events of nature. "(5) The State has a significant public interest to prevent the economic collapse of many of the State's farms, which could cause a severe disruption in the State's economy and food supply chain. "(6) The most effective program for administration of financial assistance is two-fold. The first category shall be based on information available from the Farm Service Agency ("FSA") within the United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA"). The second category, for producers who do not participate in FSA programs, shall be based on verifiable documentation from producers. "(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: "(1) Agricultural commodity. - Apples, barley, corn, cotton, dry peas, flax, forage, freezing and canning peas, grain sorghum, grapes, hay, industrial hemp, native grass, nursery crops, nuts, oats, peanuts, potatoes, rye, soybeans, sunflowers, sweet corn, tobacco, tomatoes, wheat, specialty crops and other fruits and vegetables, and aquacultural species propagated or reared in a controlled or selected environment. An agricultural commodity does not include stored grain. "(2) Department. - The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "(3) Fund. - The Hurricane Florence Agricultural Disaster Fund. "(4) Livestock. - Cattle, sheep, swine, goats, farmed cervids, and bison. Livestock shall include horses, mules, or other equines only if they are used for production of agricultural commodities. "(5) Person. - Any individual, trust, estate, partnership, receiver, association, company, limited liability company, corporation, or other entity or group. "(6) Poultry. - Chickens, quail, or turkeys. "(7) State. - The State of North Carolina. "(8) USDA. - The United States Department of Agriculture. "(c) The Hurricane Florence Disaster Fund is established as a special fund in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Fund consists of allocations directed by the General Assembly and contributions and grants from public or private sources. The Fund shall be used for a financial assistance program that provides assistance to farmers affected by Hurricane Florence. The Department may not use funds for administrative purposes. Earnings on the contributions and grants deposited in the Fund shall be credited to the Fund. The Fund shall expire upon the complete expenditure of funds allocated for the purposes specified herein. "(d) To be eligible for financial assistance for losses of agricultural commodities, a person must satisfy all of the following criteria: "(1) The person experienced a verifiable loss of agricultural commodities as a result of Hurricane Florence, and the person's farm is located in a North Carolina county that is or becomes any of the following: "a. Designated under a major disaster declaration by the President of the United States under the Stafford Act (P.L. 93-288) as a result of Hurricane Florence. "b. Included in either a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Florence issued by the United States Secretary of Agriculture or the Presidential Federal Emergency Management Agency Declaration for Hurricane Florence. "(2) The agricultural commodity was planted but not harvested on or before September 13, 2018, or, for aquaculture commodities, the commodities were being raised on or before September 13, 2018. "(e) A person seeking financial assistance for losses of agricultural commodities shall submit to the Department a Form 578 on file with the USDA Farm Service Agency or a form provided by the Department for reporting acreage or plantings of crops not typically reported on Form 578, along with any other documentation deemed appropriate by the Department, on or before December 20, 2018. For nursery crops, fruit-bearing trees and bushes, and specialty crops where the survival level is not immediately known, the Department may extend this deadline to May 1, 2019, upon written request by the person received on or before December 20, 2018, and upon approval by the Department. A person receiving assistance under this program must provide a signed affidavit, under penalty of perjury, certifying that each fact of the loss presented by the person is accurate. "(f) To be eligible for financial assistance for losses of livestock or poultry, a person must first qualify for and receive payment through the USDA Livestock Indemnity Program and be a participant in a livestock or poultry indemnity program administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency. "(g) A person seeking financial assistance for losses of livestock or poultry shall submit documentation of loss and indemnity received from the USDA Livestock Indemnity Program, along with any other documentation deemed appropriate by the Department, to the Department on or before December 20, 2018. The Department may extend this deadline to March 1, 2019, upon written request by the person received on or before December 20, 2018, and upon approval by the Department. A person receiving assistance under this program must provide a signed affidavit, under penalty of perjury, certifying that each fact of the loss presented by the person is accurate. "(h) The Department shall administer the financial assistance program authorized by this section in accordance with the following criteria: "(1) In determining the payment calculation for agricultural commodities, the Department shall use a formula based on acreage, county loss estimates, and USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service averages, and any other measure the Department deems appropriate. Funds shall be distributed based on county averages for yields and State averages for price. Calculations shall be based on county or State averages in price, whichever the Department determines is appropriate. "(2) The payment calculation for livestock and poultry shall be based on twelve and one-half percent (12.5%) of the total loss reported to the USDA Livestock Indemnity Program. "(3) The Department shall gather all claim information, except from those applicants granted a deadline extension, no later than December 20, 2018. The Department shall, as closely as possible, estimate the amount of the appropriation needed to be held in reserve for payments related to losses of livestock, poultry, nursery, bush, tree, and specialty crops for which losses will not be fully known or calculated. The Department shall set aside funds as it deems appropriate based on the estimated percentage of these losses. "(4) Payments made under this program shall be made to the person who filed the Form 578 or Department form for claims related to agricultural commodity losses, or the person who received payment from the USDA Livestock Indemnity Program for claims related to livestock or poultry losses. "(i) The Department may audit the financial and other records of each recipient of funds in order to ensure that the funds are used in accordance with the requirements of this program. The Department may require any documentation or proof it considers necessary to efficiently administer this program, including the ownership structure of each entity and the social security numbers of each owner. In order to verify losses, the Department may require the submission of dated, signed, and continuous records. These records may include, but are not limited to, commercial receipts, settlement sheets, warehouse ledger sheets, pick records, load summaries, contemporaneous measurements, truck scale tickets, contemporaneous diaries, appraisals, ledgers of income, income statements of deposit slips, cash register tape, invoices for custom harvesting, u-pick records, and insurance documents. "(j) Awarded funds shall be used for agricultural production expenses and recovery of losses due to the impacts of Hurricane Florence. The Department shall develop guidelines and procedures to ensure that funds are expended for the purposes allowed by this section, and may require any documentation it determines necessary to verify the appropriate use of financial assistance awards including receipts. All distributed funds are subject to federal and State income tax. "(j1) The Department shall report the following data to the Fiscal Research Division no later than 30 days following the conclusion of each quarter: "(1) The number of applicants by type (crops, livestock, nursery). "(2) The number and amount of awards by type (crops, livestock, nursery). "(3) The geographic distribution of the awards. "(4) The reported crop loss by crop type and by county. "(5) The total amount of funding available to the program, the total amount encumbered, and the total amount disbursed to date. "(6) Any refunds made to the program pursuant to subsection (k) of this section. "(k) If the Department determines that a person who received financial assistance provided inaccurate information, then the person shall refund the entire amount of the financial assistance. If the person does not refund the appropriate amount, the North Carolina Department of Revenue shall collect the money from the person pursuant to G.S. 105-242 . "(l) This section expires January 1, 2024." Session Laws 2019-3, s. 1, provides: "Notwithstanding the deadline set forth in Section 5.11(e) of S.L. 2018-136, as amended by S.L. 2018-141, a person who experienced a verifiable loss of agricultural commodities as a result of Hurricane Michael, and whose farm is located in a North Carolina county that, between January 31, 2019, and February 15, 2019, was (i) designated under a major disaster declaration by the President of the United States under the Stafford Act (P.L. 93-288) as a result of Hurricane Michael or (ii) included in either a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for Hurricane Michael issued by the United States Secretary of Agriculture or the Presidential Federal Emergency Management Agency Declaration for Hurricane Michael, is eligible for financial assistance for losses of agricultural commodities pursuant to Section 5.11 of S.L. 2018-136." Session Laws 2019-3, s. 2, provides: "This act is effective when it becomes law [March 8, 2019]. The Department shall accept completed applications from people eligible for financial assistance pursuant to Section 1 of this act for no more than 10 consecutive business days on which the federal government is not partially or fully shut down, beginning on the effective date of this act [March 8, 2019]. This act shall expire on the date the Department has processed all applications validly received during this period." Session Laws 2019-224, s. 3.3, provides: "Expand DACS Farmer Assistance. - Notwithstanding the deadline set forth in Section 5.11(e) of S.L. 2018-136, as amended by S.L. 2018-141, a person who experienced a verifiable loss of agricultural commodities as a result of excessive rain and flooding that occurred during May 15, 2018, through December 31, 2018, and whose farm is located in a North Carolina county that, between January 31, 2019, and February 15, 2019, was included in a Secretarial Disaster Declaration, either as a primary county or as a contiguous county, as a result of excessive rain and flooding that occurred during May 15, 2018, through December 31, 2018, issued by the United States Secretary of Agriculture, is eligible for financial assistance for losses of agricultural commodities pursuant to Section 5.11 of S.L. 2018-136. This section is effective when this act becomes law [September 18, 2019]. The Department shall accept completed applications from persons eligible for financial assistance pursuant to this section for no more than 10 consecutive business days beginning on the effective date of this section [September 18, 2019]. This section shall expire on the date the Department has processed all applications validly received during this period." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2013-99, s. 1, effective July 1, 2013, rewrote the section. For applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2013-342, s. 1, effective September 1, 2013, substituted "11" for "10" in subsection (b); substituted "cattle" for "livestock" in subdivision (b)(4); and added subdivision (b)(11). For applicability, see editor's note. Legal Periodicals. - For article, "Ag-Gag Free Nation," see 54 Wake Forest L. Rev. 491 (2019).