USDA Designates an Additional 24 Virginia Localities as Drought Disaster Areas

What this means

A factual summary is pending editorial review. The complete official release is reproduced below with issuer attribution and a direct link to the original publication.

Official release

Source material from Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The wording below is the issuer’s statement.

News Release

May 22, 2026

USDA Designates an Additional 24 Virginia Localities as Drought Disaster Areas

Farmers in

designated disaster areas have eight months to apply for emergency assistance

Richmond, Va. – An additional 24 Virginia localities have received drought

disaster designations by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins. Farmers

in the primary designated counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Henry, Nelson,

Pittsylvania, and Sussex are eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the USDA Farm Service

Agency (FSA). Farmers in Albemarle, Augusta, Bedford, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Franklin,

Greensville, Halifax, Lunenberg, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Prince Edward, Prince George, Rockbridge, Scott,

Southampton, and Surry counties, and the cities of Bristol, Danville, Lynchburg, and Martinsville are also

eligible for FSA drought emergency assistance as they are contiguous to primary drought designated

localities in Virginia and Tennessee.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu), these 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.

Drought disaster assistance includes FSA emergency loans. Provided eligibility requirements are met, 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.

The counties of Arlington, Brunswick, Campbell, Charlotte, Dinwiddie, Fairfax, Franklin, Grayson,

Greensville, Halifax, Isle of Wight, King George, Loudoun, Lunenberg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania,

Prince William, Southampton, Stafford, Surry, Sussex, Washington, and Westmoreland, and the cities of

Alexandria, Emporia and Suffolk had previously received drought disaster designations. Farmers in these

localities should contact their local USDA FSA office for more information and to verify their exact

filing date, as 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 https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/virginia.

Release text attributed to Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Consult the official publication for any subsequent corrections or updates.