Athens County farmers whose crops were damaged by spring flooding got a helping hand yesterday in the form of federal loans.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture named Athens, as well as 48 other counties in Ohio, as a “primary disaster area” because of excessive rain, flooding, flash flooding, high winds, excessive heat and tornadoes that occurred from Feb. 2 through July 31.
That designation will allow Athens farmers to apply for assistance from the USDA in the form of low-interest emergency loans from the Ohio Farm Service Agency. Farmers can apply for loans of up to $500,000 at an interest rate of 3.75 percent. Farmers in the counties designated as primary disaster areas are eligible to sign up for those loans within the next eight months.
Prior to this change, loans to farmers and producers in Ohio were not available through the FSA but only through typical loan lenders, such as banks.
Christine Reed of the USDA explained that farmers and producers will record the designations, along with the damages experienced within the disaster area time period, to petition the state congress and legislature to set aside funds to aid farmers in a disaster program.
“Farmers look for this designation for the future,” Reed said. “Not many sign up for the loan because — well, because it’s a loan and they’ll have to pay it back.”
Last spring, excess rainfall and the flooding that followed caused delayed planting of crops for Athens-area farmers, said Mary Imel, program technician for the Athens County FSA.
That late planting, combined with excess heat in the late spring and early summer, caused crops to “grow really fast,” Imel said. That results in weak roots and a potentially weak product, she added.
aw261607@ohiou.edu
