Several Ohio counties have been added to the list of those dealing with drought conditions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) declared Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Brown and Adams counties as natural disaster areas due to drought. According to the USDA, those five counties have been dealing with a severe drought for eight or more consecutive weeks, or they've had extreme or exceptional drought conditions. The five counties also have several contiguous counties in the Tri-State, totaling 17 counties in total eligible as natural disaster areas. In September, 2022 Ohio Counties, including Highland County, were designated as disaster areas. The natural disaster area designation allows the USDA Farm Service Agency to extend emergency credit to farmers in the affected areas through Farm Service Agency emergency loan assistance. The counties now available for emergency loans include: Ohio: Adams Brown Butler Clermont Clinton Coshocton Guernsey Hamilton Highland Holmes Knox Licking Montgomery Muskingum Pike Preble Scioto Tuscawaras WarrenIndiana: Dearborn Franklin UnionKentucky: Boone Bracken Campbell Kenton Lewis Mason PendletonTo stay up to date with drought levels, you can look at the U.S. Drought Monitor here.