Commissioner Tyler Harper, State Legislators Urge USDA-Risk Management Agency to Add Echols, Lanier, and Ware Counties as Primary Disaster Areas

Atlanta, Ga - Today, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper joined with State Legislators to urge USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and USDA Risk Management Agency Administrator Marcia Bunger to designate Echols, Lanier, and Ware Counties as primary natural disaster areas for Hurricane Debby. Echols, Lanier, and Ware counties were not included as primary natural disaster areas in USDA’s initial disaster declaration despite meeting the required rainfall and windspeed thresholds. As such, farmers and producers in these counties are not eligible for indemnity payments for damaged crops and are facing significant financial hardship

The letter was co-signed by Senate Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman Russ Goodman (SD-08), House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee Chairman Robert Dickey (HD-145), House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Chairwoman Penny Houston (HD-170), Senator Mike Hodges (SD-03), Representative James Burchett (HD-176), Representative John Corbett (HD-174), and Jaclyn Ford, the only qualified candidate for HD-170

Full text of the letter is available below and here:





 

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The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is the voice of the state's agriculture community. The department's mission is to provide excellence in services and regulatory functions, to protect and promote agriculture and consumer interests, and to ensure an abundance of safe food and fiber for Georgia, America, and the world by using state-of-the-art technology and a professional workforce.

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Georgia Department of Agriculture
Tyler Harper, Commissioner
19 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW
Atlanta, GA 30334