Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has encouraged farmers in 40 Ohio counties, including Delaware County, to 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 Sonny Perdue, 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.
“This has been a very tough year for farmers,” Governor DeWine said. “We appreciate the Secretary’s actions in reviewing the information about production losses in these counties and making these natural disaster designations.”
In June, Governor DeWine requested a USDA Secretarial disaster designation for Ohio and met with farmers about the effects of heavy rainfall this year.
“Inclement weather conditions have caused farmers across our state to make tough economic decisions that will have a long-term impact on the agricultural industry,” said Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Dorothy Pelanda. “Secretary Perdue’s assistance is greatly appreciated.”
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.
In central Ohio, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, and Licking counties were designated by the Secretary either as primary counties or contiguous counties affected by natural disasters.
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.
