Stemming the dramatic increases in taxes on farmland and compiling data on the density of livestock in Ohio’s watersheds lead the Ohio Farmers Union’s list of public policy priorities for the year.

CAUV, or Current Agricultural Use Valuation is the formula used to value farmland for tax purposes in Ohio. Since about 2011, that formula has not worked due to historically low Federal Reserve interest rates and market turmoil. While the Kasich Administration could change the formula administratively, OFU members are seeking the help of the Ohio General Assembly.

“Agricultural property tax increases are becoming an ‘existential threat ‘ to family farmers and rural land owners in Ohio,” OFU President Joe Logan said. “In recent years, our farmers have suffered increases in our CAUV of 300 to 600%, while Ag commodities have plummeted.”

“It’s just doesn’t make sense that yet another round of state income cuts will be paid for in part by farmers – after they’ve already contributed in the form of triple digit tax increases in previous budgets,” Logan said.

Logan said one issue that narrowly missed being passed by delegates was a proposed “$0 tax value” for Ohio’s woodlands.

“Woodlands owners are taking it on the chin in terms of taxes they pay versus the revenue those acres generate. Considering the environmental benefits that forests provide, we need to adjust tax rates to encourage more woodlands. The fact that we had a lengthy debate on our convention floor about zero tax values for woodlands should wake up policy makers in Columbus about the need to revamp CAUV,” Logan said.

Regarding water quality and harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, Grand Lake St. Mary’s and other Ohio watersheds, Logan said OFU adopted a “special order of business” at its recent convention proposing some further action by the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture.

“Part of the solution to our ag nutrient problem is to avoid overloading livestock into watersheds – beyond the capacity of the cropland to utilize those nutrients.  As a first step in getting there, OFU proposes that the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture make an accurate assessment of all livestock operations within each watershed,” Logan said.
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Ohio Farmers Union to Debate CAUV, Water Quality

The Ohio Farmers Union will hold its 83rd Annual Convention beginning Friday, January 27, 2017.

Among public policy topics to be decided by the delegates are Ohio farmland tax issues and whether or not to establish carrying capacities for livestock in Ohio’s sensitive western Lake Erie watershed.

“We are delighted to announce the convening of the 83rd annual convention of the Ohio Farmers Union this coming weekend. Our convention will feature inspirational and educational presentations from key leaders in Ohio agriculture, thoughtful discussion on policy issues and great fellowship among members, delegates and guests. Please join us,” said OFU President Joe Logan.

Delegates will hear from a variety of speakers and decide whether to discuss and adopt number of policy priorities for 2017 including, setting livestock carrying capacities for the western basin of the Lake Erie watershed and making adjustments to the Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) of Ohio’s farmland.

CAUV will be an especially hot topic as many farmers around the state have experienced farmland property tax increases of 300 percent or more since 2008.

[Read more…]

from National Farmers Union

Demonstrating the environmental benefits brought about by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) concludes that corn ethanol provides a considerable reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional gasoline.
 
The study found that in 2014, the use of corn ethanol provided a 43 percent reduction in lifecycle GHG emissions compared to use of conventional gasoline.

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by Joe Logan

President, Ohio Farmers Union

Northeastern Ohio winters are notoriously gloomy. In a normal year, only 32% of the total available sunlight manages to pierce the cloud layers that roll south from Lake Erie during the late fall and early winter months.  It’s rare to see a sunrise this time of the year, but December 20, 2016 has been a pleasant exception to that rule. I’m always surprised at how far south it has migrated and how impotent its rays have become. That is especially true today, as it has reached its most southerly path. Despite this season’s customary gloom, I have always found encouragement in the fact that following the winter solstice, days will begin to progressively lengthen, in their inexorable march toward spring.

Each season carries a similarity to that of the prior year, as well as its own individual signature. December of 2016 carries on the tradition of marking a rather dramatic departure from the warmer autumn temperatures, and true to the variety that is inherent in nature, this year shows a distinctly chilly identity of its own.

Our summer and autumn have been quite warm this year. In fact most months in 2016 have established records for the highest average global temperatures ever recorded. The undeniable accumulation of data clearly demonstrate to anyone with even a slightly open mind, that climate change is happening and that humankind will need to be addressing the causes and adapting our behavior. The sooner we acknowledge that and set ourselves to the task, the better it will be for all of us.

Adaptation will not be a linear process, as natural systems are notoriously dynamic. We cannot simply crank up our air conditioners to accommodate to a warming planet. Climate scientists have long been warning us to be prepared for a wide variety of weather conditions, including an extreme warmth in summer, extreme cold in winter seasons and extreme weather events, including intense storms in all seasons.

 Even here in Northern Ohio, a white Christmas is a bit of a statistical rarity. This year, however, it is pretty well locked in, as we are in the midst of what weather forecasters have dubbed a “polar vortex”, -a protracted period of extremely cold temperatures characterized by an abnormal intrusion of frigid arctic air plunging into temperate latitudes.  

The jet stream is a well-known fixture in climate dynamics. It is a reasonably consistent, stream of air that circles the globe at velocities of around 250 MPH, keeping polar air corralled in the arctic regions and acting as a barrier between cold arctic air and warmer temperate air. The polar vortex represents a distortion or weakening of the normally predictable jet stream, allowing massive volumes of polar air to escape containment by the jet stream and invade temperate regions.

Polar vortices are not only uncomfortable, they are dangerous, with extreme cold temperatures, ice and snow storms threatening livestock and causing significant property damage. Historically, such phenomena have been rare, but in recent years, they seem to have become more of a regular occurrence.

[Read more…]

The Ohio Farmers Union expressed profound disappointment when legislation to help correct the outlandish and unfair increases in farmland property taxes died in the Ohio General Assembly last week.

“While some committee chairmen and rural legislators went to bat for the CAUV bills pending in the House and Senate during lame duck, ultimately leadership in both Houses killed our efforts at reform,” said Ron Sylvester of OFU.

OFU CAUV expert and attorney Ted Finnarn said, “Many farmland owners have suffered property tax increases between 300% and 800% during the past few years.”

CAUV, or Current Agricultural Use Valuation, is the complex formula and system for taxing farmland in Ohio.
 
According to Finnarn, one of the main reasons that CAUV values have escalated is due to the very low interest-capitalization rate used in the formula, which has been affected by the Federal Reserves’ unprecedented low interest monetary policy the last few years. The lower the interest rate is, the higher the CAUV values are.

SB 246 and its companion Bill HB398 would have moderated increases in property taxed by excluding certain non-agricultural factors, such as actions of the Federal Reserve. The legislation would have also corrected a problem with land involved in conservation practices.

Currently, CAUV tax rates assume that property is being used for crop production. The proposed legislation would have allowed these acres to be valued at a lower minimum value. OFU had given testimony by Finnarn and supported both bills.
 
“What really killed the legislation at the last minute was a letter and material from the ‘schools’ lobby dated November 28, 2016, opposing the bills,” Finnarn said.

This letter was authored by the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) and the Ohio School Board Association (OSBA). They indicated that if CAUV values were corrected and moderated to some extent, then residential property taxes would increase and some non-rural school districts might receive less state funding.

“These letters ignored the fact that there has been a massive shifting of the tax burden to farm and woodland owners over the last few years with the higher CAUV values. Since the schools receive more funds locally from rural taxpayers and less from the state, we are right back where we were over 40 years ago before we had CAUV,” Finnarn said.

“Once again, we have an over-reliance on local property taxes to fund our schools,” said Finnarn.  “And, we know this is unconstitutional under both our Ohio and Federal Constitution.”

“Unless changes are made very soon, a school funding crisis is coming where rural school districts will not be able to pass their tax levies –  even the renewals,” Finnarn added.

“The Ohio Farmers Union is open to discussing these major changes in distribution of Ohio’s tax burden, but with today’s low commodity prices, farmers cannot absorb this massive and unfair shift in their share of the tax burden. Essentially, the state has balanced its budget on the backs of farmers,” Finnarn said.

Sylvester said that OFU has been working on this issue “since at least 2011.”

Finnarn and OFU President Joe Logan have held information events around rural Ohio, petitions have been sent to Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Finnarn has also advocated through his seat on the Ohio Dept. of Taxation’s Agricultural Advisory board.

“We’ll work for good and fair policy during the budget next year, and if that fails we’ll ask legislators for stand-alone bills once again,” Sylvester said.