In coordination with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) recently announced that twenty additional Georgia counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas due to ongoing drought conditions.
With this expansion, a total of 146 Georgia counties have now been designated as primary natural disaster areas due to ongoing drought conditions.
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler J. Harper commented on the dire conditions facing farmers and landowners, expressing optimism for coming developments.
The Commissioner assured Georgia producers that federal resources were on the way and thanked USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins for her continued support.
“While Georgia farmers are no strangers to extreme conditions, the severe drought across our state continues to impact Georgia farm families, creating uncertainty and increasing costs at a critical time,” said Commissioner Harper. “This expanded disaster declaration ensures more Georgia producers can access federal resources to help weather these challenging conditions, and I’m grateful to Secretary Brooke Rollins and our federal partners for their continued support of Georgia agriculture.”
The Declaration and Recent Developments
This declaration expands previous designations and makes farm operators in newly designated primary counties eligible for Farm Service Agency emergency loan assistance, provided eligibility requirements are met.
The newly designated counties include: Butts, Chattooga, Clayton, Coweta, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Fayette, Fulton, Gordon, Habersham, Henry, Jasper, Newton, Pickens, Pike, Putnam, Rabun, Rockdale, and Spalding.
In a recent development, Commissioner Harper announced that the GDA has begun working with partners across the state to ensure emergency shelters for pets and livestock.
As of the latest announcement, there are fifty available emergency shelters across the state for anyone who needs to use them.
We’re working with partners across Georgia to ensure emergency shelters are available for pets, equine, and livestock through the duration of this emergency.
If you need to move animals, please call ahead to confirm space. We’ll continue to do everything we can to support our… pic.twitter.com/2rNFh5l1WM
— Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper (@AgCommHarperGA) April 28, 2026
