Last week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) would provide further assistance to Hurricane Helene-affected producers in their recovery efforts. The USDA has determined which counties are eligible for payments under the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement for Hurricane Helene. Approved Insurance Providers (AIP) now have 30 days to issue payments, but they usually do so considerably sooner.