By Clint Thompson
Hurricane Helene block grants are on their way for farmers impacted by the 2024 storm.
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper made the announcement during the Sunbelt Ag Expo.
“We have basically two pots in the block grant; we have an agriculture pot and a timber pot,” Harper said. “We finished up the agricultural applications, which gave us the ability to go ahead and move on those while we’re finalizing the timber applications. We’ll be finishing those up over the next couple of days and weeks, and so we should be sending those out soon, just like we have with the Ag out.
“It was great to be able to go ahead and get those contracts out for the Ag applications to farmers that need it. That’s for things like future losses on blueberries and peaches or any of those citrus crops and pecans and things like that; poultry, some infrastructure losses. We’re glad to be able to get those dollars rolling out and in the hands of the farmers that need it as they continue to recover.”
Devastating Storm
Preliminary estimates for the economic impact of Hurricane Helene to Georgia agriculture topped $6 billion.
Georgia’s specialty crops in the hurricane affected areas were especially impacted. There was a $138 million impact to the pecan industry. It included $62 million to crop loss that year and $76 million in replanting costs. It was estimated that 420,000 trees were lost to the storm.
Georgia’s blueberry industry suffered a $52 million impact. There was an expected $150 million impact to future quality loss.
Vegetables suffered between a $100 million and $120 million loss. About 40% of the state’s $1.2 billion industry is produced in the fall and there was an estimated 40% loss of that crop.
The citrus industry was dealt a 40% loss, amounting to $12 million.
“As we’ve talked about, that was a generational storm. It’s going to take generations in some regards to overcome. But we hope this goes a long way in helping people continue to get back on their feet and do what they do best every single day,” Harper said.