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Recent rain causes devastation for local farmers

Now, the feds are working to help Connecticut farmers hit hardest along the Connecticut River.

ROCKY HILL, Conn. — The recent rain has created mass devastation for farmers across the state, especially those close to the Connecticut River. That includes Hayes Farm 1868, LLC. in Rocky Hill, where an estimated two-thirds of their crops were ruined by the rain. 

“It’s part of business. Unfortunately, mother nature wasn’t that gracious to us this year. We’ll survive, but it’s going to be an impact financially for years to come,” said Francis Whelan, a 5th generation farmer with Hayes Farm. 

Whelan and his family run a beef cattle farm, with other animals too. Their home base is on Hayes Rd., but their crops are grown a couple of miles away from there in the meadows off N. Meadow Ln. Those crops are used to feed their 63 animals. Looking at drone photos, they think it’s a total loss but, they haven’t been able to assess the damage because the road has been impassable for days.

“It’s not an easy life as we learn more and more. But it’s the love of the land, the love of the history of our family, continuing this on this piece of land, seeing our animals, how nice and beautiful and healthy they are. It’s a love,” Whelan said. 

However, the sad truth about that love is that because of the damage done by the rain, they’re going to have to sell most of their animals. 

“We’re only going to be able to keep 20 of the pregnant moms. And everything else will have to be sold,” Whelan said.

On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy visited Whelan’s farm, trying to assess the damage and see what help he and his colleagues can get for farmers like Whelan in Washington.

“If we don’t find a way to get some federal assistance to farms, we’re going to have a real problem delivering what customers and consumers need,” Sen. Murphy said. 

Right now, Sen. Murphy is hoping for a disaster declaration. In the long term, he hopes to change the Farm Bill to add relief for scenarios like this one.

“Unfortunately, I think that the picture is pretty bleak in terms of weather predictability going into the future. So, we’re going to need for the Farm Bill, to have more emergency programs,” Sen. Murphy said. 

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Programs Whelan will accept, as long as it’s not a low-interest loan. 

“We’re proud people of our land, and what we have. None of us want to lose anything. But, most of these federal programs, they give you low-interest loans. I don’t know any of us that can take on any more debt,” Whelan said. “I don’t want a handout, I’m not saying that. Most of us will survive this one way or another, but if there was some grant money or something of that sort.”

For the disaster declaration, there are thresholds of loss that communities must prove. Therefore, Sen. Murphy is asking all farms and businesses impacted by the floods in CT to calculate their losses and report that information to the Department of Agriculture as soon as possible.

Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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