The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced recently that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued primary disaster designations for the city of Suffolk and Greensville County due to damage and losses caused by excessive rain that occurred from Sept. 7 through Dec. 31, 2015.

The following localities have received contiguous disaster designations since they border the primary localities: Brunswick, Dinwiddie, Isle of Wight, Southampton and Sussex counties and the cities of Chesapeake, Emporia, Hampton, Newport News and Portsmouth.

Farmers in any of these areas may now apply for emergency loan assistance from USDA’s Farm Service Agency as long as they meet eligibility requirements.

The disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to the 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 the 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.