U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks with Sabrina Halvorson about the USDA’s efforts to assist farmers, ranchers, and communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
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Video Transcript
Secretary Vilsack: [00:00:00] Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are extended to all those who have been devastated by the destruction of these storms. It’s just been heartbreaking to hear of the stories. And actually, I was with the president in Florida and Georgia talking to those who have lost their homes and farms, very difficult time.
So USDA’s responsibility is obviously to provide us help and assistance right now, working in a collaborative and comprehensive way with FEMA to make sure that we have boots on the ground. very much. And that we’re basically taking the steps to help people. I get through this 1st stage of dealing with the storm in the aftermath of the storms.
1st of all, making sure that people get fed. That’s why we’ve created flexibilities in our snap program. Those who receive financial assistance from the government to basically buy groceries, they may not have their card. They may have lost their card. So we are providing easy opportunities for replacements.
the utilization of those cards to buy hot meals instead of having to buy groceries because [00:01:00] they may not have the ability to actually produce and prepare meals because their kitchen has been destroyed or their home has been devastated. that opportunity for us to work with schools to make sure that youngsters have the opportunity to have meals.
and if they can’t be served at school to make sure that they have a congregate meal site or a Opportunity for a sort of a grab and go similar to what we did during the pandemic. So a lot of flexibilities on the nutrition side. In terms of farmers, ranchers and producers, it is all about making sure that we have people prepared and able to staff those offices to begin the process of processing all the applications.
We have literally 8 or 9 different programs designed to provide assistance for farmers, everything from crop insurance. to the livestock indemnity program to emergency conservation assistance, that may require farmers to provide applications and information. we have [00:02:00] instructed our crop insurance agents to be as flexible as possible in terms of loss documentation.
in fact, we want to get payments out on some of the. storm as quickly as possible. We anticipate under the wind and hurricane coverage that we may be able to get payments out as early as this November. Eso we’re excited and anxious to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to get folks the help that they need as quickly as possible.
We’re sending search teams from outside states and from inside the states of affected and impacted areas to those offices. Once they are prepared to be open to make sure that we’re there to service the farmers is working to make sure that they farmers are aware of the debris removal emergency conservation programs are available to apply for resources to get the debris removed.
We want to make sure that we’re working through our rural development program to provide housing units for those who’ve lost their homes. We have rental units [00:03:00] that may have, extra apartments that may be available and used. We want APHIS to be focused on helping folks deal with plant their pets. So it’s a comprehensive approach.
with over 260 people from USDA alone, basically manning the regional and national offices to oversee and to coordinate all of the activities with other federal agencies that are working collaboratively with us and we with them, to restore power. to open up roads and bridges, to provide housing, to provide, assistance for, folks who have lost maybe their house is still intact, but the roof has been destroyed.
but with the covering and things of that nature, they can get back into their home. There’s just a whole series of things that we’re doing, in a concerted and comprehensive effort to try to respond, to the immediacy of these storms. And then [00:04:00] we’ll begin the process, obviously, of the.
Recovery phase once we, once we get through this initial stage
Sabrina Halvorson: with two such devastating disasters back to back like this, that has got to put an additional strain on all of these resources. In addition, there’s a lot of USDA staff that lives in these areas and you mentioned moving staff around to, try to help alleviate some of that.
Putting a focus on that, how is USDA working in those areas.
Secretary Vilsack: as I mentioned, we have what are called search teams. These are additional people that come in from outside a state that’s not from a state that’s not been impacted by the storms to help supplement and compliment or to, provide opportunities for additional staff in these offices.
We also are moving people in the state that are coming from counties that weren’t impacted by the storm. And so it’s a combination of out of state and in state folks. Basically going to where the [00:05:00] need is and where the work is going to be most significant over the course of the next several weeks and months.
So we are making those arrangements right now. We’ve got teams moving right now. To do that. So we’re confident we’re going to be able to man the offices and to provide this assistance and help. We have online capacity as well to the extent that people have access to the Internet. There’s a disaster assistance tool online tool.
That would allow producers to take a look at the particular situation they’re confronting, whether it’s a flood or whether it’s wind damage, it will list all of the programs that potentially are available for that producer when they click on those programs, they’ll get the name and contact information of someone who might be able to help them and assist them in making.
And application, we obviously want producers to be able to document as best they can under the circumstances, the losses that they’ve incurred so that we can get payment to them [00:06:00] as quickly as we can. And I mentioned that we’re providing flexibility on the crop insurance side, so that if they have records that have been destroyed as a result of the storm, that they’re not penalized because of that.
with greater flexibility, trying to get payments to them as quickly as possible, making sure that the offices are fully and adequately staffed.
Sabrina Halvorson: I’ll admit that I’ve never, I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve never lived through a disaster such as this, but I have to imagine it’s got to be a very confusing time for the people who are affected.
Is there something that you would tell them, look, this is your first step or this is your next step. Do this first and then, continue on to get the help that you need.
Secretary Vilsack: I’d say a couple of things. First of all, to the extent they can documenting the losses that they’ve incurred obviously becomes very, important.
that can be done in a number of different ways. but, having to the extent that you’re able to define the nature of your loss, particularly for farmers and ranchers and producers, that is extremely helpful and, and, [00:07:00] allows us to move forward in terms of crop insurance payments, in terms of the non crop insurance assistance program payments, and, In terms of the livestock indemnity program payments in terms of the forage program payments, and basically also documenting the, conservation needs if there’s soil erosion, or if there if lands have to be restored, basically documenting that and working collaboratively with folks to get that information as quickly as possible to FSA or crop insurance agents.
That’s number 1 number 2 look, this is very stressful and people need to know that there’s a 24 7 hotline that they can utilize and call. if they are just overwhelmed, that number is 888 381 7243, 888 381 7243. It is man 24 7 and we would encourage folks to use that if and when they need to talk to somebody and just try to get themselves to a place where they’re in a better state of mind.
Sabrina Halvorson: [00:08:00] Thank you for sharing that phone number. If you were able to, and I know that you have been able to talk with some of the people who are affected, but if you were able to speak to each one of them one on one, what message would you really want them to hear from you?
Secretary Vilsack: that we are going to be there as quickly as we possibly can to provide as much help as we possibly can as quickly as we can with easily, as we can, and that we’re going to be there until, until we get ourselves back on, on our feet until people get back to normal.
This is not a sort of a We’ll be there at the beginning and then a week or two or a month from now, we won’t be there. The president’s been very clear about this. We are there until all of the repair, the recovery and the rehabilitation, the revitalization of communities and of homes and of farms and ranches is done.
Sabrina Halvorson: And that’s going to be a very lengthy process for many people.
Secretary Vilsack: Look, I think all of us wish we could do this overnight. We wish we could [00:09:00] put people back in their homes. We wish that there wasn’t damage to the, crops or livestock. But the reality is that’s why we have insurance programs. That’s why we have the various Farm Bill programs to provide help and assistance.
That’s why we have, offices in virtually every county of the country to be able to service people. and this is what government does. And as I’ve often said, I think, America is at its best and Americans are at their best, in the worst of times. And obviously the folks. And the southeast part of our country have gone through the worst of times, and it has been very difficult.
No question about it. But there are a lot of people. In fact, I think there were over 8000 federal employees that are currently working on this disaster assistance effort right now in a variety of ways there. The energy department is making sure that 50, 000 individuals who are capable of repairing, electric lines are, coming into those states that have been impacted by these storms [00:10:00] to restore power.
The Department of Defense is providing blue tarps so that people can basically put that over their roof if it’s been destroyed. And basically be able to continue to stay in their home if, they still have a home. e FEMA is working to provide people, resources, financial resources, as well as, housing assistance, to, get, to a point where there’s at least some semblance of normal for these folks.
So there are a lot of people working and they will continue to work 24 7, to try to provide the help and assistance that people need.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.