By Clint Thompson
The Farm Recovery Block Grant deadline for Georgia farmers who were dealt financial losses by Hurricane Michael is Thursday, April 30.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is accepting online applications. The block grant funds include $347 million.
This block grant program is designed to compensate producers for losses and expenses in seven categories of assistance, according to farm recovery. These include beef, dairy, fruit and vegetable, pecan, poultry, timber, and uninsured infrastructure.
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Ag economist Adam Rabinowitz believes all eligible farmers need to take advantage of the program.
“Those block grants are really important for those who didn’t have any other assistance from USDA programs to recover from Hurricane Michael. It’s not your typical crop producers. It was some of your others in terms of trees and some infrastructure,” Rabinowitz said. “It certainly helps in a time when, just in general, we’re dealing with financial issues, continued recovery from Hurricane Michael and just real unknown. It’s essential to get those applications in by that extended deadline of April 30.”
Georgia farmers and forest landowners in 95 eligible counties who suffered losses can enroll at farmrecovery.com.
For more information and a guide to help prepare applicants for enrollment, visit farmrecovery.com.
Hurricane Michael caused more than $2.5 billion in losses to Georgia’s agricultural sector, the state’s leading industry. This was according to estimates from the UGA Cooperative Extension agents and agricultural economists.