Congress passes relief funding for Georgia farmers after Hurricane Helene

BLACKSHEAR – The U.S. Senate passed bipartisan legislation that includes agricultural disaster funding to help Georgia farmers recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Helene and farmers nationwide impacted by natural disasters.

U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, (D-GA), led the efforts to pass the disaster assistance, which includes $21 billion in disaster relief for farmers and $10 billion in economic assistance for farmers facing tough economic conditions. 

“I’ll never stop fighting for Georgia’s number one industry,” Ossoff’s statement read. “Georgia farmers sustain Georgia’s rural communities and feed our great Nation.”

In the first days after Hurricane Helene, which decimated Georgia’s agricultural industries with hurricane-force winds and torrential rains, Ossoff led a group of 34 lawmakers urging Congressional leadership to pass disaster relief for agricultural producers. Last month, Sen. Ossoff testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations on the urgent need to support Georgia agriculture by end of the year  

The Pecan Growers Association reported that 48,000 acres of pecan orchards were damaged with a loss of nearly 400,000 trees. The Georgia Pecan Growers Association reports that direct tree loss from the storm adds up to about $118 million and future income loss of about $417 million. 

The Georgia Poultry Federation reported that 495 poultry houses took significant damage, including 295 that were completely lost.

U.S. and Georgia lawmakers and officials from the USDA Risk Management Agency spent the weeks after Helene visiting farms firsthand to see the damage left by the storm. They were led by the Georgia Pecan Growers Association to witness destroyed row crops and knocked down pecan trees and damaged timberland acreage. 

One of the farms visited was Chris Clough’s 800-acre pecan operation in Blackshear. 

Clough said the passage of this aid is a “godsend” for both pecan and row crop farmers; although, he said it is too early to know exactly how much aid farmers will receive. 

Clough lost about 18% of his pecan trees to Hurricane Helene and the entirety of his crop for this year’s harvest. 

“It’s just one big mess,” he said. “It’ll take all year long … to get everything back to right again before next pecan season. We don’t really know what kind of impact it’s going to have on the remaining trees that we have.”

On top of natural disasters, Georgia’s pecan farmers have been struggling with difficult market conditions, cheap imports and rising costs.

Clough said this climate makes it impossible for farmers to break even.

“There’s no way to turn a profit for the second year in a row,” he said. “If we don’t get some help, there is no future in this industry.” 

He said he’s hoping for the passage of more grants and financial aid through the next farm bill, which has been delayed for over a year after the 2018 bill expired. Congress must approve a new farm bill every five years. 

“For the near future, it’s just a very grim outlook,” Clough said. “There are a lot of farmers that were destroyed and will not be planting back.”

He said he’d also like to see the installation of more NOAA weather research stations in Georgia. 

“The RMA … said that we did not have hurricanes here in my county, which is total baloney, we had sustained winds of over 100 miles an hour, but we do not have the NOAA Weather research stations to prove it in our area,” Clough said. 

Clough said he has hope for relief from the recent federal aid passage. The Georgia Pecan Growers Association has worked tirelessly since Hurricane Helene to push lawmakers for help, especially in the form of specialty crop block grants, the association’s executive director, Mary Bruorton said. 

The Association also put together a hurricane relief t-shirt campaign where 100% of funds made went to growers impacted by Helene. 

“We are working, advocating and lobbying for our growers, and talking with congressional offices daily regarding disaster relief,” Bruorton said. 

Ossoff wrote in his statement that he’s committed to providing this relief. 

“Before, during, and after Hurricane Helene, I’ve been in constant contact with Georgia farmers, and I took their message directly to the White House and the Congress: deliver hurricane aid now,” he wrote.