$531 million in Hurricane Helene relief for farmers on the way

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced about $531 million in block grant funding for eligible Georgia farmers more than a year after Hurricane Helene devastated farmers across swathes of the state.

“We know that farmers, and certainly farmers and ranchers in this state have really, really been hurting and struggling,” Rollins said at the Georgia Capitol on Tuesday, flanked by Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, U.S. Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Gov. Brian Kemp and others.

In another visit to the Capitol last year, Rollins promised that disaster relief funding would start flowing, but some of the aid approved after Congress passed a $100 billion disaster relief package in December 2024 was tied up in block grant negotiations between the federal government and individual states.

ExploreHurricane Helene relief for Georgia governments finally flowing

Georgia’s negotiation with the Agriculture Department lasted for months. Harper announced last week that aid applications would open March 16 and close in late April. The block grant money is aimed at delivering aid for commodities and losses that didn’t qualify for preexisting USDA programs.

“While this relief will not make impacted producers 100% whole, it will go a long way to help farm families get back on their feet after the devastation of Hurricane Helene,” Harper said in a written statement.

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff had repeatedly pressed Harper and the federal government to deliver aid for farmers and other producers impacted by Helene after Congress passed the disaster aid package months after the September 2024 storm.

It’s unlikely the money will be enough to help Georgia producers fully recover from the storm. Farmers and timberland owners have been counting on federal aid to offset the estimated $5.5 billion in damage Helene caused to Georgia agriculture.

The storm tore through swathes of Georgia, Florida the Carolinas and parts of Tennessee, claiming the lives of more than 200 people and causing at least $78.8 billion in damages, according to federal estimates. It’s ranked among the most expensive tropical storms in the U.S. since 1980.

The Georgia Forestry Commission and the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources estimated the storm caused about $1.3 billion in damage to the state’s timber industry.

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