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Farmers Union Commitment to Fight Climate Change

August 4, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

fuclimateleaders-postNFU Climate Leaders is a community of farmers, ranchers, educators, policy makers, journalists and concerned citizens that share common concern over the current and looming threats posed to agriculture and food security by climate change.

We’re encouraging all those interested in climate change and its impacts on American agriculture to get connected by joining the NFU Climate Leaders Facebook group, signing up for the mailing list, and reading the Climate Column.

In other words, NFU’s commitment to getting the good information out about the intersection of climate change and agriculture is operating on all channels. The Facebook group is self-explanatory, with the mailing list you’ll get occasional updates to your email inbox and the Climate Column is a blog with all the latest.

Another great resource is the National Farmers Union Climate Leaders homepage. Here you’ll find a quick explainer on the program as well as “static” resources like research reports and ideas for what to do on your own farm. You’ll also find that on our own Ohio Farmers Union website – www.ohfarmersunion.org – under the “Issues” menu a direct link to the NFU Climate Leaders page at nfu.org.

One document you can get started with is the 2016 NFU Convention’s Special Order of Business on climate change.

So, stay informed and stay active. There are ways to mitigate climate change in our own communities and on our own farms.

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature

Ohio Farmers Union Joins Other States in Support of New Ag Checkoff Bill

July 18, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

checkoff_400Logan: The commodity checkoffs are off the rails; Reform needed

Ohio Farmers Union President Joe Logan today said the 4,000 member Ohio family farming group is supporting a bill recently introduced in Congress to reform the nation’s commodity checkoff programs.

“The Commodity Checkoff Program Improvement Act of 2016 is a good, common sense bill, made all the better because it comes out of the gate with bipartisan support,” Logan said.

U.S. Senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Cory Booker, D-NJ, introduced the legislation last week.

“When checkoff programs engage in anticompetitive activity, it is a threat to a dynamic and informed free marketplace,” Booker said. “This bipartisan legislation will help increase transparency and restore trust in checkoff program practices.”

“Last year a FOIA request uncovered some troubling emails between the American Egg Board and top executives in the egg industry,” Lee said. “This was a classic case of Big Government and Big Business working together to squeeze out smaller rivals and squelch innovation.”

The bill provides a basic set of common sense provisions that all commodity checkoff programs would have to comply with. Those reforms would restrict using mandatory checkoff dollars to lobby Congress, reduce conflict of interest within programs, prevent checkoff money from being used to disparage other commodities or products, increase public transparency, and require full program audits every five years.

OFU joins the Missouri and Nebraska Farmers Unions in throwing its support behind the bill.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature

August 6 is OFU Summer Picnic – RSVP Now

July 15, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Invite-2016-700

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4th of July Farmer’s Share

July 4, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Click to See Full Size or Download PDF

4th-of-July-Farmers-Share-fb

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NFU: Feds Short Changing Climate and Farmers with Uneven Implementation of RFS

June 22, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Climate, Rural America Most Affected by Waivers Complicating RFS Implementation, NFU Says

The divisive issue of implementing the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) was center stage at a hearing today of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

In official testimony submitted for the record, National Farmers Union asserted that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has m

Roger Johnson

Roger Johnson

ade implementation more complicated than it should be and advocated for the agency to consider the several benefits of the RFS when implementing their final rule on renewable volume obligations for 2017.

“It is concerning that a hearing of this nature is even necessary. Again, the EPA has proposed RFS volume obligation levels well below the statute levels mandated by Congress, and I question why they are creating more unnecessary work to implement a law with proven environmental gains,” said NFU President Roger Johnson.

The RFS has tremendous potential to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change by offering a fuel choice that reduces greenhouse gas emissions. According to a study by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the RFS will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 138 million metric tons by 2022, the equivalent to taking 27 million cars off the road, if RFS statutory volume obligations are followed.

Enhanced by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the RFS requires the EPA to evaluate the available supply of biofuels, and if sufficient supply exists, EPA must set the annual volume obligation targets at those levels, Johnson explained. While issuing a proposed and final rule on an annual schedule is no small task for a federal agency, it is “a much smaller workload than when the agency considers issuing a waiver for which it does not have the legal authority.”

The statutory language authorizing the RFS limits the EPA’s authority to invoke a general waiver to instances where the requirements in the statute would cause severe economic harm or where there is an inadequate domestic supply of biofuels.  EPA claims that there is an inadequate supply of biofuels, justifying a general waiver, but Johnson underscored that this is not the case.

“EPA’s actions on the RFS in the last several years have only contributed to policy uncertainty in the transportation fuels sector, and their proposal completely undermines the broader climate change goals set forth by the Administration. I encourage the EPA to consider the environmental benefits of the RFS over the position of Big Oil when implementing their final rule,” Johnson concluded.

Johnson’s testimony can be read in full here.

Filed Under: Blog

Things for livestock exhibitors to remember during fair season in Ohio

June 22, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

fairtimeby Dr. Tony Forshey, State Veterinarian, Ohio Dept. of Agriculture

Summer marks the beginning of fair season – a time when thousands of 4-H youth all across the state showcase the animal projects they have spent so much time perfecting.

 As these hard working kids gear up to show their animals, I  want to encourage all exhibitors to be aware of livestock tampering rules so they do not accidentally disqualify their market animal projects.

Some key things to keep in mind as you prepare your animal for the show ring:

  • If an animal is sick, the exhibitor should contact the veterinarian.
  • Prescription medications must be prescribed by a veterinarian for a valid medical purpose.
  • Extra-label use of any medication must be prescribed by a veterinarian and have an extended withdrawal time.
  • Over-the-counter drugs must be used according to label directions for a valid medical purpose.
  • Showing any livestock which has been administered a drug that exceeds the tolerance level, or a drug for which the withdrawal period has not elapsed, is prohibited.

Other prohibited practices include: exhibiting an animal which has been tranquilized, making a false statement on a drug use notification form, failing to file or update a drug use notification form, negligently causing an unlawful substance to be present in an animal, or failing to sign a chain of custody form.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature

Farm Safety Courtesy of National Farmers Union

June 1, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

The National Farmers Union is developing a series of videos to promote safety on the farm. Think about it: You have kids, grandkids or just seasonal help that will be working 0n your farm in the near future. Why not expose them to some professionally-made teaching materials that help you keep everyone safe on the farm? All you need is a computer, an internet connection and five minutes or less per video.

Here they are:

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature

Logan: Enough is Enough on Big Mergers

May 31, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Ohio Farmers Union President Joe Logan said today that “enough is enough” with further consolidation in agricultural industries and related big business that controls more and more of the inputs farmers need to feed America and the world.

He refers to a proposed merger of Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co.

“Where are the Teddy Roosevelts and the trust busters of today?” Logan asked.

Two previous waves of mergers in the agricultural inputs sector have already created what is known at the Big Six: Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, Dow and BASF. The current rumored or announced deals—including Dow-DuPont, ChemChina-Syngenta, and Bayer-Monsanto—would be a third wave of consolidation.

“Competition is eroding more and more with each of these mega deals. While financial markets applaud supposed efficiencies of larger businesses, customers – farmers – have fewer choices, less competition and input prices continue to go up,” Logan said.

The National Farmers Union today joined Food and Water Watch and the American Antitrust Institute in a letter to U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division urging a challenge to the Dow-DuPont merger.

The letter can be read in its entirety here.

The proposed merger would create a powerful duopoly between Dow-DuPont and Monsanto. Together, the two companies would control 76% of the market for corn and 66% of the market for soybeans, giving them the power to charge farmers higher prices and effectively decide which seeds farmers could plant.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature

Happy Memorial Day!

May 30, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Happy-Memorial-Day

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature

Ohio CAUV Legislation Update

May 27, 2016 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

Ohio Farmers Union Members are receiving their Ohio Country Messenger this week and hopefully they read the front page story on the two bills pending in the Ohio General Assembly regarding tweaks to the formula for Current Agricultural Use Valuations in Ohio.
 
Unfortunately – and despite overwhelming proponent testimony in the relevant House and Senate committees – neither the House nor the Senate bill were voted out of committee.
 
Legislators have left Columbus for all practical purposes until after November’s election. Calls to the Governor’s office, House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and Senate President Keith Faber are in order – ask them to move the bills. The problem with moving this legislation isn’t with rank and file members, it’s with leadership. If you live in Speaker Rosenberger’s or President Faber’s district, ask them about it and let them know what’s happened to property taxes on your farm.
 
OFU will continue to monitor and work with other Ohio ag organizations to get the wild fluctuations out of CAUV values.

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature

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