Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black was the guest speaker at the December 2 White County Rotary Club meeting. (Dean Dyer/wrwh.com)
More than one year after Hurricane Michael devastated farms in South Georgia, farmers are still waiting on federal disaster relief.
Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black says the state’s farmers are still waiting for assistance. Speaking this week to the White County Rotary Club Black said, “If we get a transaction to a farmer in Georgia by February first it will be a miracle.”
Federal assistance was held up by partisan disputes over disaster relief for Puerto Rico. Congress finally passed and President Trump signed a more than $3 billion aid package for farmers in June. The U.S. Department of Agriculture began accepting applications for that aid this past September.
During his visit to White County on December 2, Commissioner Black also discussed the state’s burgeoning hemp industry, according to WRWH News. The state agriculture department is responsible for licensing growers and processors of industrial hemp products.
Georgia lawmakers passed a bill this year and Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law allowing farmers to grow hemp for CBD oil, rope, and other products.
Black told the Rotarians that this area needs more work to make sure that they can do their job right. A meeting was scheduled Wednesday to decide what the next step in the process will be.
By the end of this year, state officials plan to submit proposed rules to the federal government for growing hemp. If those rules are approved, Georgia farmers could begin legally raising the crop as early as this spring.
Dean Dyer of WRWH News contributed to this report
