Ag News
GDA offers tips to prepare for Helene block grant applications
Posted on Dec 17, 2025 at 13:33 PM
While the USDA evaluates its block grant agreement with Georgia regarding the Hurricane Helene Block Grant Program (HBG), the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is encouraging farmers who suffered losses as a result of the hurricane to gather documentation needed for their applications.
On Dec. 11, the GDA released guidance on the application process.
Georgia farmers, ranchers and foresters in eligible counties that have suffered losses in timber, infrastructure, poultry, beef cattle, dairy cattle, milk loss, dairy feed loss, pecans, blueberries, citrus, nursery, plasticulture and bare ground practices due to Hurricane Helene may apply for assistance to the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
In general, timber payments will be based on pre-hurricane values of damaged timber stands; infrastructure losses will cover on-farm physical structures needed for agricultural production; poultry losses are based on lost production cycles; beef and dairy cattle losses cover drops in conception rates; milk losses are for lower milk production; pecan, blueberry and citrus losses are for future production losses due to destroyed bushes and trees; horticulture/tree nursery losses cover future production losses due to destruction of nursery crops; and compensation is provided to reestablish plasticulture and bare-ground practices damaged by the Hurricane Helene. Minimum loss requirements will apply.
The GDA guidance provides the questions the application will ask:
1. Are you applying as an: Individual, General Partnership, Joint Venture, Sole Proprietorship, Corporation, Limited Partnership, Limited Liability Company, Revocable/Living Trust Irrevocable Trust, Estate, Charitable/Tax Exempt Organization? Note: Entities are required to list the member names and shares
2. What is your name or the name of your operation?
3. What is your Tax Identification Number?
4. What is your GATE Card Number?
5. What is the physical location of the farm(s)?
6. What is your USDA Farm Number?
7. Are you an owner or do you lease the property?
8. How do I prove my interest in the farm?
Following is a list of records that may support the farmer’s loss claims:
Deeds; 2024 tax assessments; lease contracts; documentation verifying timber losses; acreage reports; crop insurance records; veterinarian records; poultry lost production cycles; tree, bush and/or nursery damage; damages to buildings; receipts for medications, records of milk production; animal numbers pre- and post Hurricane Helene; expense invoices; sales receipts ; trucking receipts; repair bills; demolition bills; reconstruction invoices; photograph, aerial photography; replacement invoices; other documentation necessary to substantiate losses. The GDA emphasized that this is not an all-inclusive list; applicants may submit additional documentation they believe will support their claim.
Applications that are approved will receive payments after signup ends. As of Dec. 17, signup was not open yet.
Locations in the following counties are eligible for loss repayment from the Hurricane Helene Block Grant Program:
Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Grady, Hancock, Houston, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Marion, McDuffie, McIntosh, Miller, Mitchell, Montgomery, Oglethorpe, Pierce, Pulaski, Quitman, Rabun, Randolph, Richmond, Screven, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Twiggs, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson, and Worth.
Visit https://www.agr.georgia.gov/hurricane-helene-block-grant for the latest information on the block grant program. Questions may be asked via phone at 404-656-3630 or by email at hbg@agr.georgia.gov.
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