Twenty-two Ohio counties declared natural disaster areas by USDA due to ongoing drought

Ohio's exceptionally dry and hot summer has drawn the federal government's attention.

The USDA Farm Service Agency declared 22 Ohio counties natural disaster areas Tuesday due to the state's ongoing drought, allowing farmers to apply for emergency loans from the federal government. Farmers in 18 neighboring counties, including Tuscarawas, are eligible to receive emergency loans as well.

What Ohio counties are included in natural disaster declaration?

The counties named in the USDA declaration include:

Athens, Belmont, Fairfield, Fayette, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Vinton and Washington counties.

Those counties have all faced eight or more consecutive weeks of severe drought and some have faced extreme to exceptional droughts, making them natural disaster areas, according to a USDA press release.

For the first time in Ohio history , two counties, Athens and Meigs, face exceptional drought conditions, the most severe level of drought possible, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor .

Alongside those 22 "primary" counties, farmers in 18 neighboring counties are eligible to receive emergency loans as well. They are Adams, Brown, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Franklin, Greene, Lawrence, Licking, Meigs, Scioto, Tuscarawas, and Union counties.

How do USDA emergency disaster loans work?

Farmers can borrow up to $500,000 with a 3.75% interest rate to restore or replace essential property, pay production costs for the disaster year, pay essential family living expenses, reorganize the family farming operation or refinance the farm's non-real estate debts, according to the USDA.

Only farm owners or tenant farmers who intend to continue farming are eligible for the loans.

Eligible farmers can apply on the USDA's website .

NHart@dispatch.com

@NathanRHart

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Twenty-two Ohio counties declared natural disaster areas by USDA due to ongoing drought