On October 12, 2018, President Trump declared a major disaster in the State of North Carolina based on losses caused by Hurricane Florence that occurred, September 7, 2018 to September 29, 2018. As a result of this major disaster, 13 North Carolina counties were declared eligible for Federal disaster assistance, including Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency (EM) loans for eligible family farmers. Those primary disaster counties are: Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Cabarrus, Chatham, Dare, Granville, Montgomery, Person, Randolph, Stanley, Union and Yancey.
In addition to those 13 primary disaster counties, 26 additional North Carolina counties are named as contiguous counties where eligible family farmers may qualify for FSA EM loan assistance, in accordance with Section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act. Those counties are: Alamance, Buncombe, Caswell, Currituck, Davidson, Durham, Franklin, Guilford, Harnett, Hyde, Iredell, Lee, McDowell, Madison, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Moore, Orange, Richmond, Rowan, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Watauga and Wilkes.
Gay H. Isaacs, Watauga/Avery FSA CED said that farmers in Watauga County may apply for EM loans for physical and production losses.
June 12, 2019 is the deadline for filing an application. The local office is located at 971 West King Street, Boone, 28607 and has office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you have any questions, call 828 264-3850, ext. 2.
Isaacs said that any farmer who suffered a physical and production loss should contact his/her office for additional information.