(The Center Square) – The Georgia Department of Agriculture was ready to implement a $531,236,000 federal block grant to help farmers affected by Hurricane Helene before the federal government shutdown on Oct. 1.
The department invested hundreds of hours in negotiating the grants, Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said when the award was announced.
“After Hurricane Michael in 2018, it took 18 months for Georgia to reach a block grant agreement with USDA and another several months to start taking applications and disbursing funds,” Matthew Agvent, communications director for the department, said in an email interview with The Center Square. “Prior to the shutdown, we were on track to beat that timeline by a significant margin.’
Now, the department is waiting.
“Not having access to these disaster relief programs as well as marketing loans and other farm support is devastating for Georgia agriculture and comes at a time when our farmers can least afford it,” Agvent said.
The Georgia agriculture industry experienced $5.5 billion in losses, with direct crop losses accounting for $2.5 billion, according to Agvent. Farmers have not been without help.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency has preexisting programs to help farmers, Agvent said
The federal Agriculture Department’s Supplemental Disaster Relief Program has $16 billion in funding for producers impacted by natural disasters in 2023 and 2024, according to the department.
“As of 10/1/25, between existing USDA Programs and SDRP, approximately $503,357,769 has been disbursed to Georgia farmers impacted by Hurricane Helene,” Agvent said.
The state has also pitched in with $300 million for low-interest, emergency loans. Through the SAFETY24 plan, the Georgia Development Authority allocated $185 million. More than $166 million of loans closed, according to Agvent.
But Harper called the federal block grants announced in September “absolutely essential” in helping farmers recover.
The timeline for releasing the block grant funds is dependent on the final agreement and work plan, Agvent said.
“USDA has both documents and was in the process of reviewing both documents for final approval when the federal government shutdown,” Agvent said. “The shutdown will delay implementation of Georgia Block Grant Program and it will also pause payments to farmers through all of USDA pre-existing programs as USDA FSA is closed during the shutdown.”
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a stopgap funding measure which extends the shutdown at least through next week.
