Ohio farmers in 40 Ohio counties may seek potential relief from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) following the USDA Secretarial disaster designation in their counties or contiguous counties due to rain, flooding, or other weather conditions.  

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in letters dated July 25, 2019, designated several counties as primary natural disaster areas due to production losses caused by extreme weather events that occurred during the 2019 crop year.

According to the USDA, a Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary and contiguous counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency, which may include FSA emergency loans.

Local counties affected are Hardin, Allen, Hancock and Putnam. 

Farmers should contact their local FSA offices for additional information. Additional information on USDA’s disaster assistance program can be found at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.