On March 3, 2021, President Biden declared a major disaster in the State of North Carolina based on losses caused by Tropical Storm Eta that occurred November 12 to November 15, 2020.  As a result of this major disaster, 19 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:

Alexander

Beaufort

Davidson

Edgecombe

Robeson

Stokes

Alleghany

Burke

Davie

Hertford

Rowan

Wilkes

Ashe

Caldwell

Duplin

Iredell

Sampson

Wilson

Yadkin

In addition to those 19 primary disaster counties, 41 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:

Avery

Columbus

Halifax

Lincoln

Onslow

Scotland

Bertie

Craven

Harnett

McDowell

Pamlico

Stanly

Bladen

Cumberland

Hoke

Martin

Pender

Surry

Cabarrus

Forsyth

Hyde

Mecklenburg

Pitt

Washington

Catawba

Gates

Johnston

Montgomery

Randolph

Watauga

Chowan

Greene

Jones

Nash

Rockingham

Wayne

Cleveland

Guilford

Lenoir

Northampton

Rutherford

Mr. Grady said that effective March 3, 2021, farmers in Duplin, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, and Pender may apply for EM loans for physical and production losses.  November 3, 2021 is the deadline for filing an application. The local office is located at 165 Agriculture Drive, Suite A, Kenansville, NC 28349 and has office hours of 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday through Friday