(Washington, D.C., September 30, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide more than $531 million in Congressionally mandated recovery assistance to Georgia agricultural producers through a block grant agreement with the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) to help producers recover from Hurricane Helene.
“Farmers and ranchers in Georgia have been hit hard and suffered significant economic losses during 2024. Our team has worked closely with the State of Georgia to ensure those impacted have the relief they need in record time,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins. “President Trump has our farmers’ backs and will ensure they have the resources they need to continue to produce the safest, most reliable, and most abundant food supply in the world.”
“I am incredibly proud to announce the State of Georgia will receive $531,000,000 in federal funding to provide much-needed relief to impacted farmers and producers through Georgia’s Hurricane Helene Block Grant Program,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J. Harper. “This funding is absolutely essential to help our farm families bounce back from Hurricane Helene, and our team invested hundreds of hours into the negotiation process to secure the maximum possible amount of federal funding for our state and our producers. I want to thank Sec. Brooke Rollins and her team at USDA FSA for understanding the urgency of the situation and their strong partnership and collaboration throughout this process, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Trump Administration to deliver real results for Georgia farmers.”
This block grant funding is part of the $30 billion disaster assistance relief effort authorized by the American Relief Act, 2025. USDA is working with 14 different states, including Georgia, to develop and implement block grants to address the unique disaster recovery needs for each state.
USDA, Governor Brian Kemp’s office in Georgia, and GDA are finalizing a grant agreement that will cover future economic losses, infrastructure, and timber losses. Once the agreement is finalized, additional program information will be available through the GDA.
Additional USDA Supplemental Disaster Assistance
USDA remains committed to implementing the remaining disaster assistance provided by the American Relief Act, 2025 (The Act). On July 10, Secretary Rollins launched Stage 1 of the two-stage Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP) to assist producers who incurred losses of revenue, quality, or production of crops due to weather related events in 2023 and 2024. USDA has issued more than $1 billion in Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) assistance to livestock producers impacted by drought and federally managed lands wildfires in 2023 and 2024 with an additional $1 billion in expected payments for livestock producers impacted by floods and non-federally managed land wildfires in 2023 and 2024 (ELRP 2023/2023 FW). Livestock producers have until Oct. 31, 2025, to apply for ELRP 2023/2023 FW assistance. USDA has also announced the second tranche of the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP), which has provided over $9 billion to help agricultural producers mitigate the impacts of increased input costs and falling commodity prices. Visit the 2023/2024 Supplemental Disaster Assistance public landing page to track the status of USDA disaster assistance. The page is updated regularly and accessible through fsa.usda.gov.
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Press release provided by the United States Department of Agriculture
