Due to the recent droughts conditions across the commonwealth, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, Matthew Lohr convened a group of stakeholders for a brief presentation alongside Dr. Ronald M. Howell, Jr., Virginia State Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), on the USDA Disaster Drought Designation process.
On the call, staff at the FSA went over the two types of USDA Secretarial disaster designation, the regular process and the expedited process for drought. USDA Secretarial disaster designations must be requested of the USDA Secretary of Agriculture by a governor or the governor’s authorized representative, by an Indian Tribal Council leader or by an FSA State Executive Director. Local governments across Virgnia can have a role to play in this process. If a county’s Board of Supervisors determines that drought conditions have adversely affected the agricultural community in their locality and subsequently pass a resolution seeking disaster area designation, such resolutions should be forwarded to the Executive Director of the FSA for Virginia. The FSA Executive Director, Dr. Ronald Howell’s contact information can be accessed here.
The Fast Track Secretarial disaster designations for severe drought provides for a nearly automatic designation when, during the growing season, any portion of a county meets the D2 (Severe Drought) drought intensity value for eight consecutive weeks or a higher drought intensity value for any length of time as reported in the U.S. Drought Monitor. The 15 Virginia localities (as well as counties contiguous to the initial 15 counties) designated as disaster areas on July 30 were done so through the Fast Track process.
All types of designation or declaration immediately trigger the availability of low-interest FSA Emergency Farm Loans (EM) loans to eligible producers in all primary and contiguous counties. Staff on the call also wanted to highlight that through the disaster designation, the Small Business Administration makes available Economic Injury Disaster Loans as disasters that affect crop loss may well in fact affect agribusiness and aquaculture ventures. More information about EM loans are available here, or can be quickly reviewed using this brochure. To find your local FSA service center location and contact information click here and for more information regarding the disaster designation and declaration process click here.
VACo Contact: James Hutzler