This is a press release from Senator Jon Ossoff:
Over a year since passing Federal disaster relief for Georgia farmers, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is pressing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for updates on when Georgia farmers will see relief funding.
In December 2024, Sen. Ossoff helped pass $21 billion in agricultural disaster funding for farmers in Georgia and across the Southeast after the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene. The State of Georgia requested funding be delivered via a block grant, where the State would then distribute the Federal relief funding.
While USDA and the State of Georgia announced the amount of the block grant in September ($531 million of Federal funding), the block grant agreement has yet to be finalized, and Georgia farmers are still waiting.
Last month, the Georgia Department of Agriculture announced it has set up its program to accept applications for this Federal block grant funding; however, funding cannot go out until the block grant agreement is finalized by USDA.
After Hurricane Michael, it took Congress over 8 months to pass relief. After Helene, Sen. Ossoff pushed Congress and got done it in under 90 days.
“It’s now been over a year since the United States Senate passed $21 billion in agricultural disaster funding for farmers in Georgia and across the Southeast. Yet today, Georgia farmers are unacceptably still waiting for a block grant agreement to be finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” Sen. Ossoff wrote to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins. “You have already finalized block grant agreements with Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, but not Georgia. The State of Georgia is ready. Georgia farmers are waiting for USDA.”
Sen. Ossoff continues pressing USDA to distribute Federal disaster assistance for Georgia farmers that Congress swiftly secured after Hurricane Helene.
In July, Sen. Ossoff requested an update from Secretary Rollins and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper on the status of block grant negotiations.
In May, during a U.S. Senate hearing, Sen. Ossoff pressed Secretary Rollins to expedite relief to Georgia farmers impacted by Hurricane Helene. At the time, Secretary Rollins said USDA would make Hurricane Helene disaster funding available “by the end of the month, hopefully in the next week.”
In February, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock urged Secretary Rollins to prioritize the swift distribution of Federal disaster assistance to Georgia farmers as passed by Congress late last year.
Click here to read Sen. Ossoff’s inquiry.
