The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday announced that Virginia will receive $60.9 million to provide assistance to farmers recovering from Hurricane Helene.
Officials said in a news release that the money will fund a block grant program run by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and aimed at farmers and foresters who have not already received assistance through other programs.
The money will help cover “infrastructure, timber, and plasticulture losses in addition to market losses and future economic losses,” according to a USDA news release. Plasticulture refers to plant pots, irrigation tubes, soil coverings and other plastic products used in agriculture.
The USDA said that interested producers should watch for additional information from VDACS.
“Together with the Commonwealth of Virginia, we expedited the implementation of this disaster assistance so Virginia’s finest farmers, ranchers, and foresters can get back on their feet and continue to nobly feed and clothe our nation and the world,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in the release.
The remnants of Hurricane Helene struck Virginia on Sept. 27, three days after the storm made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane.
In Virginia, two deaths and tens of millions of dollars in damage were attributed to the storm. Farmers suffered wrecked barns, waterlogged crops, downed trees, destroyed fences and other setbacks.
Helene ultimately was associated with at least 250 deaths across seven states and nearly $80 billion in damage.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in Monday’s release that the partnership between the USDA and Virginia is “a critical step in helping Virginians get back on their feet.”
“Hurricane Helene left a lasting impact on Virginia’s agricultural and forestry communities, especially in Southwest and Southside, destroying crops and livestock, damaging infrastructure, and threatening the economic stability of families and small businesses across the region,” Youngkin said.
Virginia is the second state to get this type of disaster block grant funding. Last week, the USDA announced that Florida would receive $675.9 million. In all, the USDA is working with 14 states to develop disaster block grant programs.
The money is part of $30 billion in disaster recovery assistance authorized by this year’s American Relief Act.
Other efforts underway include the USDA’s Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, which helps agricultural producers impacted by weather events in 2023 and 2024, and the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, which helps producers handle increased input costs and falling commodity prices.
Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matthew Lohr said in the release that the funding announced Monday “represents critical, direct support for agricultural and forestry operations that suffered significant losses that were not eligible through other assistance programs.”
“From damaged infrastructure to unharvested crops and unrecoverable timber, these impacts are real, and so is our response,” Lohr said.
In October, Virginia announced it would offer low-interest loans to small agriculture and forestry businesses in certain localities impacted by Helene.
