Ag News
NRCS Chief Cosby tours Georgia damage from Hurricane Helene
Posted on Nov 07, 2024 at 10:49 AM
On Oct. 23 and 24, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Terry Cosby visited Georgia and went to areas hit by Hurricane Helene to see the damage firsthand and help connect farmers with NRCS programs that might help.
He described the damage as generational and said it went beyond what he thought he might see.
“When we get on the ground, you’re never really prepared for what you're going to see,” said Cosby, who has worked with NRCS for more than 40 years. “This is one of those storms that even just trying to imagine what I was going to see when I got there, it's worse than that. Especially when we see these pecans that have been there for 75 years. It's been three generations, and you're talking to landowners, and, you know, it was hard for them not to break down and talk. This stuff is generational.”
The NRCS offers landowners and municipalities some options to help restore infrastructure, clear debris and other tasks involved in storm recovery, like restoring normal water movement, removing debris so some farm operations can continue and helping dispose of livestock killed in the storms.
“We’re working with producers, where we have conservation practices that might have washed out and are no longer there, because we did have 12 inches of rain in a short period of time in some of these areas,” Cosby said.
Cosby said the agency worked with farm producers to restore fencing to regain control of livestock that had escaped. Producers who had overturned irrigation pivots fitted with smart sprinkler systems may find help from the NRCS to get those restored.
Debris removal from pecan orchards posed significant challenges for producers who might still be able to harvest nuts from trees that were not blown over, but could not get too them because downed trees were in the way.
The NRCS administers the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in cooperation with the Farm Service Agency (FSA), while the FSA runs the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP), and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP).
EQIP can help producers plan and implement conservation practices on land impacted by natural disasters. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, and non-industrial private forestland. Practices can include: Immediate soil erosion protection; minimizing noxious and invasive plant proliferation; protecting water quality; restoring livestock infrastructure necessary for grazing management; emergency animal mortality management.
On Nov. 5 NRCS announced a new EQIP sign-up for livestock producers in 55 counties affected by Hurricane Helene. The deadline to apply for Hurricane Helene-related EQIP is Nov. 15. Statewide general EQIP signup has been extended to Dec. 13.
Hurricane Helene EQIP related sign-up is limited to Emergency Animal Mortality Management (conservation practice code 368), and Waste Facility Closure, Soil Remediation (conservation practice code 360), and associated practices, and only to producers whose operations are located in Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, McDuffie, McIntosh, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, and Wheeler counties.
According to an NRCS press release, Georgia NRCS will be utilizing ACT NOW to process these Hurricane Helene EQIP related applications to expedite its delivery of resources for livestock producers in those counties. ACT NOW allows NRCS to immediately approve and obligate a ranked application that meets a minimum score threshold of 35. Applications selected through ACT NOW will be batched and processed in the order received.
Cosby emphasized that NRCS is working in tandem with other USDA agencies to match producers with assistance. The FSA and NRCS partner to administer ag land rehabilitation, like rehabilitation of eroded soil, as well as irrigation restoration services. FSA oversees EFRP alongside the U.S. Forest Service and local forestry partners.
EFRP offers assistance with forest stand improvement, forest buffers, management of brush and weeds, prescribed burning, firebreaks and a variety of other forest management tools.
For a fact sheet about EQIP, EFRP and other conservation programs, click here.
The NRCS’ Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program offers monetary and technical help to local communities where watersheds are impaired by storm debris. This includes things like removing debris stream channels, road culverts and bridges, reshaping eroded stream banks, repairing damaged or destroyed drainage facilities and more.
“We can immediately go in and assist them and get trees out, get the debris out so that we keep the water system operating long term,” Cosby said.
The state contact for EWP is Diane Guthrie, who can be reached at 706-546-2310 or diane.guthrie@usda.gov.
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