Farmers statewide can apply for low-interest loans from the federal government after the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday designated all of Ohio’s 88 counties as eligible for disaster relief due primarily to heat and drought.

While regional disaster declarations occur every year, Ohio Farm Service Agency Director Steven Maurer said “this is one of the first times in my memory it has affected the whole state.”

The declaration makes farmers eligible for loans from the federal government with 2.25 percent interest if they can prove they suffered a loss from the harsh weather.

“The corn’s just toast,” said Stefan Bridenbaugh, whose family farms about 750 acres of corn and soybeans between Phillipsburg and Verona. “We’re looking at a quarter (the yield size) of what we’d normally have.”

Southwest Ohio has been the hardest hit with severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s Aug. 28 report. As of last week, more than 65 percent of the state was experiencing at least moderate drought. Most of Butler and parts of Warren and Hamilton counties were in extreme drought. Montgomery County was in severe drought.

Before the fall harvest, Maurer said it’s hard to predict how much the loan program will be needed, especially because all eligible farmers are required to carry federally subsidized crop insurance that will help cover losses.

“The crop insurance this year is going to be my savior, I’m thinking,” Bridenbaugh said, adding that many farmers also take out bank loans that may not be paid off by insurance alone and so may require a federal loan.

Most Ohio counties, including those in southwest Ohio, were declared disaster areas by the USDA due to heat and drought since Feb. 1. Seven counties experienced damaging frost, flooding and hail, the order says. Relief is available to both impacted counties and adjacent counties.

Ohio Farm Bureau Vice President of Public Policy Adam Sharp said the statewide declaration is “very unusual but very true this year.”

“You will find probably pretty significant drought impact in every county depending on what type of agriculture you’re looking at,” he said.

He said it’s too early to predict the severity of the damage.

“Given the severe heat and the drought, we know there’s been a significant impact on the soy crop, to the corn crop, also to pasture and grass. Hay for livestock, pasture for livestock all have had significant impacts,” he said.

FSA Farm Loan Chief David Drake said the drought hit field crops directly while livestock farmers have been forced to sell animals because pasture and feed have been scarce. The loans will cover their production loss if farmers can prove they’re down from the previous five-year average.

“If it hasn’t been drought it’s been excessive heat, forcing farmers to liquidate their livestock,” Drake said. “Production has been affected overall. Whether it’s crops or grass or hay, they just haven’t had enough to eat.”

The USDA’s decision came at the request of Gov. John Kasich.

Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Sen. Rob Portman both issued statements Wednesday praising the USDA’s decision.

“These new resources will provide some relief to farmers and livestock producers dealing with this year’s record drought,” Brown said.

“Ohio farmers and families are struggling to make ends meet amid a hurting economy, and the drought and other natural disasters have added to their troubles,” Portman said.

The future of the farm safety net as a whole remains uncertain, however. The current federal farm bill — which funds crop insurance, but not emergency loans — expires at the end of this month, though losses from the current drought are covered under existing insurance.

A farm bill increasing the size of the crop insurance program passed the Senate, but the issue is stalled in the House over disagreements over food stamp benefits included in the same bill.