The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Administrator has declared emergency physical loss loans are available in thirty Ohio counties.

The following counties were designated as primary natural disaster areas, due to high winds, hail, lightning, and excessive heat events that occurred from June 29, 2012 through July 1, 2012.  Those counties are:

Allen	Guernsey	Licking	Morgan	Tuscarawas
Belmont	Hancock	Madison	Muskingum	Union
Champaign	Harrison	Marion	Noble	Van Wert
Defiance	Jackson	Meigs	Ottawa	Vinton
Fayette	Jefferson	Mercer	Paulding	Washington
Gallia	Lawrence	Monroe	Putnam	Wyandot

 

 

 

 

In addition thirty-five counties are named as contiguous disaster counties where eligible farmers may qualify for FSA emergency physical loss loan assistance:

Athens	Crawford	Hardin	Lucas	Sandusky
Auglaize	Darke	Henry	Miami	Scioto
Carroll	Delaware	Highland	Morrow	Seneca
Clark	Erie	Hocking	Perry	Shelby
Clinton	Fairfield	Holmes	Pickaway	Stark
Columbiana	Franklin	Knox	Pike	Williams
Coshocton	Greene	Logan	Ross	Wood

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on August 24, 2012, making FSA Emergency Physical Loss loans available to eligible applicants with qualifying severe physical losses in the primary and contiguous counties, provided eligibility requirements are met.  This approval is limited to applicants who suffered disaster related damages to chattels, or real estate essential to the farming operation.  To qualify, farmers must be unable to obtain credit from commercial sources.  Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part or all 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, in addition to the emergency loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

USDA has also made other programs available to assist farmers, including the Emergency Conservation Program, Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

Interested farmers should contact their local FSA county office for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.