The Shadow
RICHMOND, VA (VR) – An additional 40 Virginia localities have received drought disaster designations by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins. This addition now provides all Virginia counties with a USDA disaster designation for the current drought. A total of 125 localities in the Commonwealth have been designated as drought disaster areas in 2026.
Farmers in the primary designated counties of Caroline, Culpeper, Essex, Fauquier, Gloucester, Hanover, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, Madison, Mathews, Middlesex, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Page, Rappahannock, Richmond, and Spotsylvania are eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). Farmers in Clarke, Dickenson, Henrico, James City, New Kent, Warren, Wise, York counties, and the cities of Buena Vista, Covington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Manassas, Manassas Park, Radford, Roanoke, Salem, and Virginia Beach are also eligible for FSA drought emergency assistance as they are contiguous to primary drought designated localities.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (http://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.
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.
For a full list of the 121 Virginia localities with a drought disaster designation in 2026, please visit www.vdacs.virginia.gov/conservation-and-environmental-disaster-resources-farmers.shtml.
