Charlotte County has received a contiguous disaster designation since the county borders counties with primary disaster designations.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued primary disaster designations for Culpeper, Madison, Mecklenburg and Orange counties due to damage and losses caused by excessive rain, flash flooding and flooding that occurred from May 16, through June 30, 2018. Farmers in those areas may now apply for emergency loan assistance from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) as long as they meet eligibility requirements.

A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from FSA, provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans.

Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans. FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator.

Local FSA offices can provide affected farmers with additional information.