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Ohio
Governor John Kasich
Executive
Order signed to help drought-stricken farmers
Severe
heat, sparse rain hurting Ohio’s farmers, agriculture industry
COLUMBUS –
In response to severe heat and rainfall shortages across large areas of
the
state which are afflicting much of Ohio’s agriculture industry, today
Governor
John R. Kasich signed Executive Order 2012-11K instructing state
agencies to
help farmers reduce the negative impacts of the drought and to seek
federal
assistance.
As part of
Kasich’s order, Ohio will urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to
give Ohio
farmers access to drought-related federal assistance such as emergency
low-interest loans for crop losses, relief payments for non-insurable
losses,
the temporary deferral of payments on federal loans and permission to
cut hay
for livestock from acreage otherwise set aside for conservation. Additionally, Kasich’s
order:
• Instructs
the Ohio Department of Agriculture
to educate farmers on the adverse impacts of drought conditions and how
best to
mitigate them, as well as to conduct a series of regional drought
education
meetings to discuss forage management, water availability, heat stress
on
livestock and mitigation strategies;
• Instructs
the Ohio Department of Agriculture
to create a website to inform farmers of where they can find hay to
purchase
for their livestock;
• Allows
the Ohio Department of Transportation
to grant permits for farmers cut hay for livestock they own from
highway
rights-of-way if their land is adjacent and it can be done safely;
“Farmers
are the foundation of Ohio’s $105 billion food and agriculture industry
and
taking steps to help them through this hot, dry weather is essential to
their
survival. We need to be taking the right steps so they don’t suffer
devastating
losses or aren’t forced to abandon their fields or herds. It’s in all Ohioans’ best
interests for our
hard-hit farmers to be able to come back next year and these measures
can help
make that happen,” said Kasich.
The Executive Order is effective
immediately.
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