Impacted by Hurricane Helene? USDA Is Here to Help.

Documenting Losses  

Document damages and losses your operation has sustained as best you can, including gathering farm records, herd inventory, receipts, and pictures of damages or losses.  

We advise livestock producers to document livestock numbers by taking time and date-stamped video or pictures of injury or loss, to the extent possible.  

We recognize these are extremely extenuating and stressful circumstances, and there may be instances where documentation is lost, destroyed, or unattainable. Regardless, please contact us and we will do whatever we can to help you access the assistance you need.  

Reporting Losses  

Report crop, livestock, and farm infrastructure losses to USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) at your local USDA Service Center. 

If you have Federal Crop Insurance, contact your crop insurance agent as soon as crop or livestock losses are apparent. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has authorized crop insurance companies to provide flexibility on reporting requirements for those who are unable to report losses due to the disaster. See RMA’s Hurricanes Helene and Debby webpage.

Available Programs   

FSA offers a number of disaster programs as well as low-interest emergency loans to help producers recover from production and physical losses. A full list of programs is available on our Hurricane webpage. FSA is providing flexibilities for its programs, including extended signup opportunities and use of waivers and emergency procedures to expedite program delivery. Find a list of flexibilities here. 

NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to producers through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help with immediate needs and long-term support to help recover from natural disasters and conserve water resources. Assistance may also be available for restoring livestock infrastructure, emergency animal mortality disposal from natural disasters and other causes, immediate soil erosion protection, and other resource concerns.  

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. Visit NRCS Disaster Recovery webpage.