SALEM, Ohio — Special drought relief funding for Ohio farmers is awaiting a signature from Gov. Mike DeWine.
Legislation to provide $10 million to soil and water conservation districts to spend on drought relief passed the Ohio General Assembly on Dec. 18. House Bill 683, introduced by state Rep. Don Jones, R-Freeport, aims to fill gaps in disaster relief funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The bill moved quickly through the House but ran out of time before it could get through the state Senate. Language from the drought relief bill was packaged with Senate Bill 54, originally introduced in March 2023 to create an account in the state treasury for the New African Immigrants Commission to receive grants and other types of funding.
SB 54 took on a slew of riders in December to get its original mission completed along with many other things that needed to be passed by the end of this legislative session.
The amended SB 54 passed both chambers on Dec. 18 and now sits on the governor’s desk. As of press time at 11 a.m. Dec. 23, it had not been signed. DeWine has until the end of the year to sign it.
The USDA declared more than half of Ohio’s counties as primary natural disaster areas due to the drought since September. The disaster designation allows producers in these counties to get emergency loans and other financial assistance from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency, but the programs may not cover all costs farmers are taking on as they respond to the historic drought.
The southeastern corner of the state, which is dominated by livestock and forage production, has been especially hard hit by the drought. Most farms in the region did not get a second or third cutting of hay, and they were forced to tap into winter hay stores early after their pastures dried up. Farmers have also been hauling water to their livestock.
