Press Releases

Today Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue designated 83 counties in Georgia as primary natural disaster areas due to damage from Hurricane Irma. This declaration makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) if certain requirements are met. The assistance includes FSA emergency loans.

Primary counties declared under the disaster designation in the First District of Georgia include Bacon, Brantley, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Pierce, Wayne, and Ware counties. 

Contiguous counties declared under the disaster declaration in the First District of Georgia include Bryan and Chatham counties.

"I am very glad this declaration was made today," said Congressman Earl L. "Buddy" Carter (R-Ga.). "Even though time has passed, our community is still rebuilding from Hurricane Irma. One community with an especially hard road to recovery is our agricultural industry. I am glad this new assistance is available and we will be there to assist every step of the way."

Farmers in eligible counties have 8 months from the date of the declaration to apply for emergency loans. For more information about the declaration and the full list of designated areas, click here. 

For additional information about assistance, affected farmers can contact their local FSA office or Carter's office.