USDA has begun sending out checks to farmers who took damage from Hurricane Helene. It is a simplified process that uses weather data, but there are a lot of moving parts.
“It is a county-wide loss trigger. So that means that even though you may have suffered some wind damage, if your county doesn’t trigger according to the data source, then you wouldn’t be eligible then for that HIP-WI, that hurricane tropical storm payment. But because you also have an underlying multi peril policy, you still then need to take a look at your own individual operation and then call your agent,” said Marcia Bunger.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsacl says USDA will be available to help those farmers and ranchers for the long haul.
“At President Biden’s direction, USDA has been working hard to accelerate recovery efforts from both hurricanes and has been closely coordinating with FEMA to get response and recovery or resources out to those who need it the most as quickly as possible.”
Secretary Vilsack says USDA has paid out more than $200 million so far to states impacted by the storm.
