USDA says Prince William farmers eligible for drought emergency loan assistance

Due to the recent drought 15 Virginia counties have received primary natural disaster designations from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas Vilsack. And so have 15 contiguous areas including Prince William, Stafford and Fairfax Counties.

A USDA news release said farmers in the primary designation localities of Albemarle, Augusta, Clarke, Fauquier, Frederick, Greene, Highland, Loudoun, Madison, Page, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the city of Waynesboro are now eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Farmers in Prince William, Stafford, Fairfax, Culpeper, Bath, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Orange, Louisa and Rockbridge counties and the cities of Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Winchester are also eligible for drought emergency assistance, as they are contiguous to the 15 primary localities.

This assistance includes FSA emergency loans.

Provided eligibility requirements are met, FSA assesses each emergency loan application individually and will consider specific circumstances and needs. Farmers in eligible localities have eight months from the date of the disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/), these localities suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of
• D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or
• D3 Drought-Extreme or
• D4 Drought-Exceptional.

Fo information on available assistance programs and the application process, go to the Virginia FSA State Office website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/Virginia or call (804) 287-1500.

Additional information on USDA Disaster Assistance Programs is available at https://www.farmers.gov/sites/default/files/2022-07/farmersgov-disaster-assistance-brochure-07-21-2022.pdf.