State Conservationist Terrance O. Rudolph announced that additional assistance is being made available to Georgia farmers, ranchers and forestland owners who suffered damage to working lands due to Hurricane Michael.
This new signup for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) can protect your land from erosion, support disaster recovery and repair, and can help mitigate loss from exceptional storm events in the future. Deadline to apply for this signup is December 14, 2018.
“We know our customers are still hurting. I have seen it personally, as have our leaders in Washington D.C.,” said Rudolph. “As a result, we’ve been able to speed up our assistance to this point and we continue to examine all available resources to keep the healing process moving forward.”
Agricultural producers and non-industrial forestland owners in the following 68 counties, Appling, Atkinson, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Calhoun, Candler, Clay, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Grady, Houston, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, McDuffie, Miller, Mitchell, Montgomery, Peach, Pulaski, Randolph, Richmond, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Sumter, Tattnall, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Twiggs, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox, Wilkinson and Worth are eligible to apply, however this does not apply to local governments or other entities.
Additionally, an emergency EQIP signup in Georgia that was previously announced by Secretary Perdue to address animal mortality is still ongoing and continues to hold priority in the hardest hit areas. While the first batch of contracts are being obligated, that signup is still ongoing through November 16, and now includes a total of 20 counties. All counties that are currently eligible for the emergency EQIP signup are Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Crisp, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Laurens, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Randolph, Seminole, Sumter, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Turner and Worth. If livestock producers who experience mass mortalities in these counties do not make the deadline for this sign up, you can still apply for the December 14, sign up.
Anyone who has questions about which EQIP signup(s) they may be eligible for, can see the attached map, or visit your local NRCS office to have your questions answered and to apply for assistance.
As a reminder, under these special signups, mortality and carcass disposal will be by burial, incineration or composting methods. NRCS recommends producers seeking assistance for any mass mortality event immediately notify the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Animal Industry Division 
, if they haven’t already done so.
For more information from NRCS, contact your local USDA Service Center or visit the Georgia NRCS website at www.ga.nrcs.usda.gov. For more information on disaster assistance programs for farmers and ranchers available from USDA visit farmers.gov/recover.