Source: WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS, 4/3/17

A farm buyout program implemented by the state after 1999′s Hurricane Floyd is widely credited with helping limit Hurricane Matthew’s impact on the pork industry, and a similar proposal is now on the table. After Floyd killed 21,474 swine, flooded 55 waste lagoons and caused lagoon breaches at six farms, the state used $18.7 million in Clean Water Management Trust Fund grants to purchase conservation easements on 43 farms in 100-year flood plains. Matthew resulted in the deaths of 2,800 swine, 14 flooded lagoons and one farm with a partial breach, according to the N.C. Pork Council.

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