USDA Resources for Producers Impacted by Hurricane Helene & Milton

Recent hurricanes have caused widespread destruction to farms throughout the southeast resulting in damage and destruction of assets and loss of income. Several USDA programs, including disaster programs and crop insurance, are available to impacted producers. USDA is implementing program flexibilities in the form of extended deadlines and waivers of certain program requirements to simplify processes and expedite the distribution of funds.

USDA is using its “Hurricane” webpage Assistance for Hurricanes on farmers.gov as a hub for recovery assistance resources and to communicate with producers.  It includes written resources, news releases, USDA briefing  and FAQs.  USDA is continuing to add information to this webpage, so it is important to check back regularly.

Some USDA county offices may still be closed. If a producer is unable to make contact with their county office, they should call the national Farm Service Agency Call Center (877-508-8364), which is tasked with helping direct producers to available staff in another county or state.

A full list of programs available to producers impacted by the hurricanes can be found at  Hurricane Preparation and Recovery Resources | Farmers.gov.  Producers can also use USDA’s Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool  to generate a list of USDA programs that may apply based on the producer’s location, and type of asset impacted.

 USDA has implemented program flexibilities, or variances, to the typical program requirements. Each program is different; therefore, producers need to look at the requirements and flexibilities in place for each individual program.  Flexibilities  include extending certain sign-up deadline and reporting deadlines, waiving field inspections, allowing for additional delivery time for CCC and MAL commodities, deferring annual installment on farm storage facility loans, authorizing  the use of an expedited process for EQIP applications, providing additional time to report notice of loss and meet other crop insurance program deadlines, allowing reported acreage certified to be used for crop insurance claims and waiving appraisals. For more detailed information on flexibilities, see  Overview of USDA Program Flexibilities for disaster programs and Risk Management Agency Flexibilities for crop insurance.