By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — USDA designated 41 Ohio counties as primary agricultural natural disaster areas, making certain farmers and other ag producers there are eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA).

The following counties were designated primary areas because of combined effects of varying periods of excessive rain, flooding, flash flooding, high winds, hail, tornadoes, drought, freeze and frost that occurred from April 1-Aug. 3 this year.

“The designated disaster areas included a lot of combined regions of the state,” said Christina Reed, public relations outreach specialist for FSA. “We saw an enormous amount of frost in many of these areas, which is very normal for certain counties during this time period.

Counties include Adams, Fairfield, Jackson, Mercer, Perry, Union, Ashtabula, Gallia, Lake, Miami, Pike, Van Wert, Athens, Geauga, Lawrence, Morgan, Putman, Vinton, Auglaize, Guernsey, Licking, Muskingum, Scioto, Washington, Brown, Hancock, Lorain, Noble, Seneca, Wood, Clermont, Henry, Lucas, Ottawa, Shelby, Wyandot, Crawford, Hocking, Medina, Paulding and Trumbull.

Counties eligible as contiguous to those listed above include Allen, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Logan, Montgomery, Sandusky, Ashland, Darke, Hardin, Madison, Morrow, Summit, Belmont, Defiance, Harrison, Mahoning, Pickaway, Tuscarawas, Champaign, Delaware, Highland, Marion, Portage, Warren, Clark, Erie, Huron, Meigs, Richland, Wayne, Clinton, Franklin, Knox, Monroe, Ross, Williams, Coshocton and Fulton.

“This opens up emergency loans for these farmers and helps provide assistance for losses they might have undergone,” Reed said. “Still, this is just a loan that must be paid back.

“Most of the losses came as a result of excessive moisture in 2009. And it is the responsibility of the farmers to prove they suffered losses.”

According to Reed, farmers have eight months from Sept. 29 to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs to help eligible farmers recover.

Reed added that USDA also has made other programs available, including Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE), which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008; the Emergency Conservation Program; Federal Crop Insurance; and the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.
Interested farmers should contact their local FSA county office for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures.