Much of the Commonwealth is experiencing severe to extreme drought conditions due to the extended lack of rain and dropping water tables, according to the VDACS.
The drought continues to disrupt planting schedules, reduce crop yields, devastate pastures, and force emergency hay feeding.
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Gov. Abigail Spanberger encourages all Virginians to practice voluntary 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 improve immediately.
To date, the United States Department of Agriculture 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 counties and cities have received a USDA primary or contiguous drought disaster designation in 2026, including localities in our area:
- Accomack County
- Albemarle County
- Alexandria (city)
- Alleghany County
- Amelia County
- Amherst County
- Appomattox County
- Arlington County
- Augusta County
- Bath County
- Bedford County
- Bland County
- Botetourt County
- Bristol (city)
- Brunswick County
- Buchanan County
- Buckingham County
- Campbell County
- Carroll County
- Charlotte County
- Charlottesville (city)
- Craig County
- Cumberland County
- Danville (city)
- Dinwiddie County
- Emporia (city)
- Fairfax County
- Floyd County
- Fluvanna County
- Franklin (city)
- Franklin County
- Frederick County
- Galax (city)
- Giles County
- Goochland County
- Grayson County
- Greene County
- Greensville County
- Halifax County
- Henry County
- Highland County
- Isle of Wight County
- King George County
- Loudoun County
- Louisa County
- Lunenberg County
- Lynchburg (city)
- Martinsville (city)
- Mecklenburg County
- Nelson County
- Nottoway County
- Orange County
- Patrick County
- Pittsylvania County
- Powhatan County
- Prince Edward County
- Prince George County
- Prince William County
- Pulaski County
- Roanoke County
- Rockbridge County
- Rockingham County
- Russell County
- Scott County
- Shenandoah County
- Smyth County
- Southampton County
- Stafford County
- Staunton (city)
- Suffolk (city)
- Surry County
- Sussex County
- Tazewell County
- Washington County
- Waynesboro (city)
- Westmoreland County
- Wythe County
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.