(NAFB.com) – Tens of billions in aid for victims of Hurricane Helene should start flowing later this month, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins pledged last week, but delays are already making it hard this year for some farmers to plant crops. Congress set a deadline of March 21 to hand out the money when it passed a $100 billion disaster relief package on Dec. 21. The late September storm cut a swath from Florida’s Big Bend across eastern Georgia and upstate South Carolina before causing historic flooding in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Farmers had hoped the money would come sooner, in January or February, so they could pay off creditors before planting season. Some have sold equipment or even land to generate enough cash to get new crops started. Beyond devastation to the cotton crop, the storm toppled pecan trees and flattened chicken houses in Georgia. Farming in western North Carolina is dominated by specialty crops including Christmas trees and nursery plants, with fewer growers covered by crop insurance.