Sen. Ossoff Pushing USDA to Support Georgia Farmers Impacted by High Winds from Hurricane Helene

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is pushing to support Georgia farmers impacted by high winds from Hurricane Helene.

Sen. Ossoff is urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Agency (RMA) to ensure Georgia farmers and growers still struggling to recover from damage from high winds during Hurricane Helene receive the support they deserve.

Despite experiencing crop and production damages due to Hurricane Helene, producers who purchased Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index (HIP-WI) coverage through USDA in Screven, Effingham, Chatham, Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Wayne, Glynn, and Camden Counties did not receive indemnity payments, which are payments made to farmers after they face qualified losses like from natural disasters.

These indemnity payments are made if the National Hurricane Center (NHC) determines that a county (or adjacent county) was impacted by sustained hurricane-force winds. According to a new report published by the NHC in February 2026, "wind gusts in the 70-79 knots (kt) range were measured by weather stations in Towns, Chatham, and Echols Counties," meaning more farmers in these counties should be eligible for indemnity payments.

Sen. Ossoff is urging USDA to evaluate all available NHC data and take "all possible actions within your authorities to ensure that growers who purchased HIP-WI crop insurance policies from the Federal Crop Insurance Program receive the maximum support possible from USDA."

"In September 2024, Hurricane Helene caused devastation to rural Georgia, including $5.5 billion in agricultural and timber losses. That is why I worked with congressional colleagues to pass disaster funding for Georgia farmers less than 90 days after Hurricane Helene devastated Georgia. However, some Georgia farmers have yet to be made whole," Sen. Ossoff wrote to USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Pat Swanson. "I ask for your commitment that RMA will re-evaluate the available data produced by the NHC during and since Hurricane Helene to reconsider the HIP-WI eligibility determinations for Screven, Effingham, Chatham, Bryan, Evans, Liberty, Long, Mclntosh, Wayne, Glynn, and Camden counties. Ensuring that our farmers receive the support they planned for and invested in is the very least USDA can do."

Sen. Ossoff continues working to help Georgia agriculture recover from Hurricane Helene.

Sen. Ossoff introduced the Farm Disaster Tax Cut Act to provide farmers with a temporary tax cut on crop insurance payments in the event their crop yields or revenues fall below their guaranteed level due to natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and diseases.

In March, Sens. Ossoff and Rev. Warnock announced more than $531 million in Hurricane Helene Federal relief for Georgia's farmers after Sen. Ossoff successfully fought to pass a bipartisan disaster relief package in December 2024 that included $21 billion in agricultural disaster funding to help Georgia farmers recovering from the disastrous impacts of Hurricane Helene and farmers nationwide impacted by natural disasters.

Click here to read Sen. Ossoff's full letter.

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