Ag News
USDA encourages producers to prepare for 2025 hurricane season
Posted on Jun 11, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Hurricane season is here, running through Nov. 30. Georgia farmers, ranchers and forest landowners have been significantly impacted by hurricanes in recent years. USDA encourages agricultural producers to prepare for the 2025 season and get familiar with recovery resources.
Get Prepared
Develop an Emergency Plan: Make sure employees and household members know the emergency plan, including meeting points, emergency contact lists, and alternate evacuation routes in case of infrastructure damage.
Remove Debris and Secure Large Objects: Most injuries to animals, people, or structures during a hurricane are caused by flying objects. To lessen the risk, minimize the presence of equipment, supplies, and debris that may become airborne during high winds or encountered in floodwaters. Clean out culverts, ditches, and other drainage areas, especially before and during peak hurricane season to reduce water damage.
Document Inventory and Secure Important Records: It is critical to document inventory of farm buildings, vehicles, equipment, and livestock before a disaster occurs. Take photos, videos, or make written lists with descriptions. Gathering documentation before and after a storm is important for insurance compensation and recovery assistance. Producers will likely need thorough records of any damage and losses sustained on their farms as well as documentation of cleanup and recovery efforts. Keep copies of these records in multiple places: a computer, off-site in a safe location, and on a cloud-based server.
Know Insurance Options: Producers should regularly review insurance policies with their agent to be sure they have adequate coverage, including flood insurance, for facilities, vehicles, farm buildings, equipment, crops and livestock. It is important to note that there are limitations on how soon insurance coverage will take effect. Generally, insurance policies will not cover damage if the policy was not in place before a disaster.
Gather Supplies: Have drinking water, canned food, a generator, batteries, a flashlight, and fuel available in case of lost power. Have cash on hand in cases of widespread outages, when credit and debit cards may not work.
Access Real-time Emergency Information: Download the FEMA app for free on the App Store and Google Play for safety tips on what to do before, during, and after disasters.
How USDA Can Help
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Risk Management Agency (RMA) offer a suite of disaster assistance programs to help you recover from the impacts of natural disasters.
Insurance and Risk Protection
Those with risk protection through federal crop insurance should report crop damage to their crop insurance agent within 72 hours of discovering damage and be sure to follow up in writing within 15 days.
For producers with coverage through the RMA’s Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) and Tropical Storm Option (TS), payments are generally made within weeks following a hurricane or tropical storm. For more resources, including a recent webinar, visit the HIP-WI webpage.
Those with coverage under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) should report crop damage to their local FSA office and file a Notice of Loss (CCC-576) within 15 days of the loss becoming apparent, except for hand-harvested crops, which should be reported within 72 hours.
Disaster Assistance
FSA offers several disaster programs to help producers recover from crop, livestock and infrastructure losses, including low-interest emergency loans. A full list of programs is available on the hurricane webpage.
NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to producers through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to help with immediate needs and long-term support to help recover from natural disasters and conserve environmental resources. The program can assist with restoring livestock infrastructure, emergency animal mortality disposal, and immediate soil erosion protection.
Additionally, NRCS offers help to communities through its Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program which provides assistance to landowners and project sponsors following a natural disaster. EWP is designed to help people and conserve natural resources by relieving imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms, and other natural occurrences.
More Information
Visit the USDA hurricane webpage for more information. The Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance at a Glance fact sheet, Farm Loan Assistance Tool can help determine program or loan options. Additionally, the FarmRaise educational hub can also help with disaster recovery program decisions.
To report losses or ask questions about available programs, contact the local USDA Service Center. To connect with USDA’s resources, visit https://www.farmers.gov/protection-recovery/hurricane.
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