VDACS Provides Resource Information For Virginia Farmers Impacted By Ongoing Drought
Farmers in USDA designated disaster areas should contact their Farm Service Agency office to
determine emergency assistance eligibility
Richmond, Va. – Much of the Commonwealth is experiencing severe to extreme drought
conditions due to the extended lack of rain and dropping water tables. The drought continues to disrupt
planting schedules, reduce crop yields, devastating pastures and forcing emergency hay feeding. Governor
Abigail Spanberger encourages all Virginians to practice voluntary water conservation and has detailed potential actions for some of the most impacted areas of the state.
This includes a possible drought emergency for the Roanoke Drought Evaluation Region if conditions do not
immediately improve.
To date, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued drought disaster designations for
77 Virginia localities. A USDA disaster designation allows emergency loans to be available to producers
suffering losses in the primary designated locality as well as the localities that are contiguous to a
primary locality. Provided eligibility requirements are met, the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will
assess each emergency loan application individually to consider specific circumstances and needs. Farmers
in eligible localities have eight months from the date of disaster declaration to apply for emergency
loans. For more information and to verify exact filing deadlines, farmers should contact their local
USDA
FSA office.
To help farmers determine if their locality has been issued a disaster designation and to provide other
critical resource information, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has
created a Disaster Recovery
Resources for Farmers webpage. The new webpage also contains information on
the recent USDA disaster designations for localities impacted by the late spring severe frost and freeze
events.
The following Virginia counties and cities have received a USDA primary or contiguous drought disaster
designation in 2026:
| Accomack County |
Charlottesville (city) |
Highland County |
Rockbridge County |
| Albemarle County |
Craig County |
Isle of Wight County |
Rockingham County |
| Alexandria (city) |
Cumberland County |
King George County |
Russell County |
| Alleghany County |
Danville (city) |
Loudoun County |
Scott County |
| Amelia County |
Dinwiddie County |
Louisa County |
Shenandoah County |
| Amherst County |
Emporia (city) |
Lunenburg County |
Smyth County |
| Appomattox County |
Fairfax County |
Lynchburg (city) |
Southampton County |
| Arlington County |
Floyd County |
Martinsville (city) |
Stafford County |
| Augusta County |
Fluvanna County |
Mecklenburg County |
Staunton (city) |
| Bath County |
Franklin (city) |
Nelson County |
Suffolk (city) |
| Bedford County |
Franklin County |
Nottoway County |
Surry County |
| Bland County |
Frederick County |
Orange County |
Sussex County |
| Botetourt County |
Galax (city) |
Patrick County |
Tazewell County |
| Bristol (city) |
Giles County |
Pittsylvania County |
Washington County |
| Brunswick County |
Goochland County |
Powhatan County |
Waynesboro (city) |
| Buchanan County |
Grayson County |
Prince Edward County |
Westmoreland County |
| Buckingham County |
Greene County |
Prince George County |
Wythe County |
| Campbell County |
Greensville County |
Prince William County |
|
| Carroll County |
Halifax County |
Pulaski County |
|
| Charlotte County |
Henry County |
Roanoke County |
|
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu), designated localities suffered
from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more
consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.
Farmers should contact their local USDA FSA office for more information and to verify their exact
filing date based on their locality’s date of disaster designation. Application rules can be complex
when navigating multiple designations. For more information on available assistance programs and the
application process, please visit the Virginia FSA State Office website at
www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/Virginia.
FSA also has a variety of other disaster recovery programming available for impacted producers. Please
visit www.fsa.usda.gov/resources/programs?assistance_type%5B0%5D=13 or
contact
your local FSA office for
more information.