Augusta, GA — Tens of billions of dollars in federal aid are expected to reach victims of Hurricane Helene later this month, but the delay in funding has already started to take a toll on farmers in the storm’s path. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins promised on Wednesday that the much-needed aid would begin to flow before the March 21 deadline set by Congress when it passed a $100 billion disaster relief package in December. However, many farmers are already facing significant financial challenges, making it harder for them to plant crops in time for the 2025 season.

The late September storm, which cut a path across Florida’s Big Bend, eastern Georgia, upstate South Carolina, and parts of North Carolina and Tennessee, has been labeled as one of the most costly disasters in U.S. history. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, Helene caused an estimated $78 billion in damage and resulted in 219 deaths, making it the seventh-most expensive disaster in the United States since 1980.

Rollins, speaking at a news conference in Atlanta on Wednesday, assured reporters that relief funds would begin to be disbursed “in the next few weeks.” While the announcement was met with some relief, the delayed timeline leaves farmers in a precarious financial situation as they enter the planting season.

Chris Hopkins, a farmer near Lyons, Georgia, has already seen significant crop losses due to the storm. Half of his cotton crop was destroyed on his 1,400-acre farm, and the financial impact has forced him to dip into emergency reserves to pay off $200,000 in loans for seed, fertilizer, and other essential materials. Despite starting to plant corn on 300 acres this month, Hopkins expressed frustration that the aid had not arrived sooner.

“We were hoping to see that money come in January or February so we could pay off creditors before the planting season began,” Hopkins said. “What we’re seeing is that producers are almost in a holding pattern because they can’t afford to pay their rent or their loans.”

The delay has left farmers like Hopkins scrambling to find alternative funding. Some have even resorted to selling equipment or land to secure enough cash to start planting 2025 crops. Hopkins emphasized that while the aid is appreciated, the delay has caused unnecessary stress in an already challenging year.

“The general consensus in the farming community is that it would have been much better to get this aid earlier,” he said. “We’re thankful for it, but taking the full 90 days to receive it is tough.”

State governments in the affected regions are also taking steps to assist their agricultural communities. In Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp signed a budget amendment last week that includes $285 million in low-interest loans and funding to remove downed timber from private land. The total Helene-related spending in the state has reached $862 million.

North Carolina lawmakers are currently negotiating the details of a supplemental Helene relief bill, which could exceed $500 million. This would be the state’s fourth aid package for the storm and would provide additional funds to address crop and timber losses, among other needs. South Carolina, too, has allocated $220 million in aid for farmers and other victims of the storm, with an additional $50 million set aside for road repairs.

Despite the additional state-level relief, farmers in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina are still grappling with the financial fallout from the storm. The damage to the agriculture sector is substantial, with an estimated $5.5 billion in losses in Georgia and $4.9 billion in North Carolina alone. The storm also decimated pecan orchards, flattened chicken houses, and wreaked havoc on specialty crops like Christmas trees and nursery plants in North Carolina.

As the planting season progresses, farmers continue to hope that the delayed federal aid will arrive in time to mitigate some of the losses and allow them to recover financially. However, for many, the damage from Hurricane Helene is a reminder of how vulnerable the agriculture industry is to the unpredictability of natural disasters — and the urgency of providing timely assistance to those who rely on the land for their livelihoods.