Senator Jon Ossoff has testified before the United States Committee on Appropriations to call for the urgent need to support Georgia's agriculture after the impacts of Hurricane Helene.

The Senator pushed for both parties to pass agricultural disaster assistance by the end of the year. 

At the Review of Disaster Funding Needs, Ossoff opened his testimony by emphasizing the challenges and needs Georgia farmers are facing.

"Georgia agriculture was devastated by this hurricane, and I respectfully urge this committee to swiftly send the full senate a disaster relief bill that includes assistance for Georgia farmers, who are in acute distress and who are the backbone of Georgia's rural communities," he said. "Force winds and torrential rains destroyed fall crops still on the field, knocked down pecan orchards that growers spent decades cultivating, and damaged a million and a half acres of timberland."

Georgia farmers, growers, and producers backed the Senator's call to put political differences aside and pass the agricultural disaster assistance for the state before the year ended.

Mary Bruorton, Executive Director of the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, said the organization deeply appreciates his effort to expedite funding through the Senate.

"In recent history, there has never been a more critical moment for our industry to receive this level of assistance. We are immensely proud to witness such strong support from every level of government—thanks to the leadership of our Governor, Agriculture Commissioner, and bipartisan leaders at the federal, state, and local levels,” Bruorton said. "It is vital to emphasize that our rural counties— the backbone of American agriculture—are the areas most in need of this relief. With the pecan industry facing an unprecedented economic loss of $614 million, the time for Congress to act is now.”

Other organizations and farmers that voiced their support for Ossoff's efforts include the Georgia Citrus Association, the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, the Georgia Poultry Federation, cotton, peanut, corn, small grain, and watermelon producers, blueberry growers, and others.