Ohio Farmers Union

Serving Family Farmers and Consumers Since 1934



United to Grow Family Agriculture Since 1934

Farmers Union supports raising fuel storage level permit requirements

By Leave a Comment

National Farmers Union sent a letter today commending Sens. Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Roberts, R-Kan., and Reps. Neugebauer, R-Texas, and Peterson, D-Minn., for their bicameral legislation that would increase the allowable exemption for transporting fuel to 1,000 gallons.

“National Farmers Union delegates recently adopted policy during the organization’s annual convention in Springfield, Mass., that supports raising the current full HAZMAT protocol requirements threshold for portable fuel to 1,000 gallons,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “This is a perfect example of NFU’s grassroots membership engagement levels on today’s issues.”

Current law requires agriculture producers to obtain a permit for transporting diesel fuel in excess of 119 gallons.

“This law is overly burdensome to our producers, and only increases costs and red tape,” Johnson said. “NFU supports common sense environmental and agriculture policy that balances environmental stewardship without placing extra costs on producers.”

Click here and here to view the letter.

NFU Delegates Adopt 2013 Policy Document

By Leave a Comment

nfulogo-post

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The National Farmers Union (NFU) 111th Anniversary Convention adjourned Tuesday afternoon in Springfield, Mass. The four-day event concluded with the delegates considering and adopting the organization’s policy for the next year.

“Farmers Union is truly a grassroots organization, and our policy adoption process is an example of the value of Americans’ right to free speech,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “The policy adopted by the delegates today is what will guide the advocacy work of our organization for the next year.”

Just as we do in Ohio at OFU’s annual convention, NFU also adopted several special orders of business which are topical, “of the moment” policy concerns. They include:

“The voices of family farmers, ranchers and fishermen and women have been heard,” said Johnson. “NFU will continue to work on behalf of the providers of our nation’s feed, fuel, food and fiber. As we head back to Washington, D.C., we have a very clear message to relay to Congress: a five-year farm bill must be completed as soon as possible to provide certainty and protection against multi-year price collapse.”

Delegates adopted policy favoring comprehensive reform of immigration laws in relation to agricultural workers. Existing NFU policy that supports conservation compliance requirements for federal crop insurance premium subsidy eligibility was reaffirmed. The body renewed its support for affordable healthcare, with an emphasis on disease prevention and access to nutritionally sound foods. Policy was put in place to address the challenges that small boat fishermen and women face.

Click here to read or download the entire 2013 NFU Policy document.

 

Mel Borton honored at National Farmers Union Convention

By Leave a Comment

melpost

L-R: John Hansen, president, NE Farmers Union; Roger Johnson, president, NFU; Mel Borton; Roger Wise, president, OFU. Photo Courtesy of NFU.

During National Farmers Union’s 111th Anniversary Convention, Mel Borton was presented with the organization’s Award for Meritorious Service to Farmers Union and American Agriculture.

Meritorious Service Awards honor those who have made particularly noteworthy contributions to agriculture, humanity and Farmers Union. This honor is the highest award the NFU Board of Directors can bestow upon an individual.

“Mel Borton has dedicated six decades of his life to Farmers Union,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “His passion for the organization has made him a true leader in membership growth and advocacy for U.S. family farmers, and for that we are grateful.”

Borton was born and raised on a farm in northwestern Ohio. He started farming on his own in 1948 as a sharecropper and joined Ohio Farmers Union that same year. He has held several leadership roles in Farmers Union and on other national committees. Today he continues to lobby on the state and national level on behalf of family farmers.

Before receiving his award, a video of congratulations from Ohio Farmers Union President Roger Wise was played for Borton and convention delegates and attendees.

“Mel has been an integral part of Ohio Farmers Union and National Farmers for many years,” Wise said. “When I was a young man and my Dad was on the OFU Executive Committee, Mel was one of the first people I met. He has been an important part of our organization nationally and in Ohio – he’s always advocating for family farmers.”

USDA: Deadline looms for hispanic and women farmers, ranchers

By Leave a Comment

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today reminded Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who allege discrimination by the USDA in past decades that there are 45 days remaining in the filing period closing March 25, 2013.

 “Hispanic and women farmers who believe they have faced discriminatory practices in the past from the USDA have 45 days left to file a claim in order to have a chance to receive a cash payment or loan forgiveness,” said Secretary Vilsack. “USDA urges potential claimants to contact the Claims Administrator for information and mail their claim packages on or before March 25, 2013.”
The process offers a voluntary alternative to litigation for each Hispanic or female farmer and rancher who can prove that USDA denied his or her application for loan or loan servicing assistance for discriminatory reasons for certain time periods between 1981 and 2000. As announced in February 2011, the voluntary claims process will make available at least $1.33 billion for cash awards and tax relief payments, plus up to $160 million in farm debt relief, to eligible Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers. There are no filing fees to participate in the program.

Contact your local or the state FSA office for information.

White House: Sequestration’s impact on Ohio

By Leave a Comment

The automatic across-the-board cuts known as “sequestration” began on March1 and the White House wants you to know how these cuts will hurt Ohio.

Sequestration is the fallout from the 2011 deal between Congress and President Barack Obama to increase the nation’s debt ceiling. At that time and since, leaders from both parties have admitted that sequestration is bad policy because it cuts all domestic programs except for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veteran’s programs. The thinking was when it was passed that these cuts were so egregious that sequestration would be repealed and replaced with reasoned, balanced deal to cut the deficit. Partisanship in Washington remains more important than progress and it wasn’t repealed let alone replaced.

These cuts will be a slow burn and most Americans won’t notice any changes for weeks or months. For instance, most of the 26,000 civilian Defense Dept. employees in Ohio who will be put on ten to 20 day furloughs must be given a minimum of 30 days notice before being furloughed.

The White House issued a memo one week ago which outlines some of the fallout specific to Ohio. Among the cuts expected are:

  • $161 million in pay for those civilian Dept. of Defense employees in the state removed from the economy due to furloughs
  • 4,700 low income families will lose rental housing vouchers
  • $25 million in lost funding for K-12 public education
  • $22 million in lost funding for public school instruction of disabled kids
  • 1,450 fewer work study jobs for Ohio college students

In the last newsletter we reported that Senate Democrats were offering up USDA guaranteed payments as part of a replacement deal for the sequester. That bill is going nowhere for now. Republicans are dug in that there will be no further tax increases as part of a better deal. Both that Senate bill and a proposal the president has floated include closing certain tax loopholes affecting the wealthy and large, profitable corporations. The GOP is calling such tax reforms “increasing taxes” for now. The stalemate continues. The military and most vulnerable pay.

Ohio Farmers Union Statehouse Lobbying Day is March 13

By Leave a Comment

Ohio StatehouseFamily farmers and their advocates will descend on the Ohio Statehouse in mid-March to talk to committee chairmen and members and senators of the Ohio General Assembly.

Sure to be high on the Ohio Farmers Union Legislative Day lobbying list will be improvements to Ohio’s grain indemnity fund and program as well as rural infrastructure and water quality in the context of the state’s fracking boom.

“This is an important time to be on Capitol Square as the General Assembly considers the next two-year state budget,” said OFU President Roger Wise.

“As family farmers we hope to convince legislators that this is the year to pass reforms to Ohio’s Grain Indemnity Program. We also will weigh in about where we believe increased severance tax should go,” Wise added.

OFU has stated among its 2013 policy priorities the group’s belief that a substantial portion of increased severance taxes should remain in the counties where the taxes are collected for infrastructure and education.

Those wishing to participate in OFU’s lobbying day at the Statehouse should contact Linda Borton at lborton@ohfarmersunion.org.

The event will be held on March 13 and kicks off with a 9:30 a.m. meeting with Senate Ag Committee Chairman Cliff Hite.

Commission which advises Ohio’s grain indemnity fund to meet

By Leave a Comment

The Ohio Dept. of Agriculture has announced the next meeting of the Agricultural Commodity Advisory Commission. The commission provides an advisory role to the Grain Indemnity Program (Fund) and the director of ODA.

Their next meeting will be held Wednesday, March 13, 10 a.m. at the Reynoldsburg campus of ODA in the Plant Health Building, conference room 101. For information contact Denise Hatch at ODA at 614-728-6410.

OFU’s Townsend Wins OEFFA Award

By Leave a Comment

Mardy Townsend, president of the Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake Farmers Union was awarded the 2013 Stewardship Award by the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association this past weekend.

The announcement was made on February 16 as part of OEFFA’s 34th annual conference, Growing Opportunities, Cultivating Change. The Stewardship Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the cultivation of sustainable agriculture.

Mardy Townsend. Photo by George Remington.

Mardy Townsend. Photo by George Remington.

Townsend raises grass-fed beef cattle at Marshy Meadows Farm in Ashtabula County, near Windsor, Ohio. Portions of the 226 acre farm has been in the Townsend family since 1972 but it wasn’t until 1993 that she transitioned to grass farming to better suit the farm’s wet, erodible land conditions and the area’s long, cold winters. Marshy Meadow Farm’s land has been certified organic through OEFFA since 1996 and the beef herd is in transition to organic.

Townsend graduated from Wilmington College in 1978 with a degree in animal science and biology and received a master’s degree in agronomy from Ohio State University in 1997. She was a horticulture agent at the OSU Extension Geauga County office from 1994 to 1996.

In 2000, 175 acres of the farm were put into a permanent conservation easement held by the Ashtabula County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. In 2002, Mardy and her mother Marge received the Outstanding Cooperator Award from the Ashtabula County SWCD. The farm is also enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Security Program.

Townsend has served on the OEFFA Board, along with two stints on the North Central-Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program Technical Review Committee. She is a founding member of OEFFA’s Lake Effect Chapter and has hosted several OEFFA farm tours. She has become increasingly active in environmental issues related to fracking.

“With almost 20 years of farming experience on her family’s farm in northeast Ohio, Mardy has developed a successful, sustainable, and organic model for grass-fed beef production,” said Molly Bartlett, a 2007 recipient of the Stewardship Award, who nominated Townsend. “A natural steward, Mardy’s keen affection for her animals and the land and wise knowledge of her farm have guided her holistic management practices.”

“Mardy’s contributions to sustainable agriculture go beyond her farm. She is not only active in both OEFFA and the Ohio Farmers Union, but she has been involved in her community and drawing attention to the problems associated with fracking,” said Mick Luber, who shared the 2007 Stewardship Award with Bartlett and presented the award to Townsend at the Saturday evening ceremony.

OFU & OEC Host First Lake Erie Water Basin Ag Stakeholder Meeting

By Leave a Comment

Ohio’s largest family farmer organization is joining a respected environmental advocacy group to educate and hear from northwest Ohio farmers and other agricultural stakeholders on the topic of a cleaner Lake Erie Water basin.

“A healthy Lake Erie is an invaluable economic and natural resource,” said Roger Wise, president of the Ohio Farmers Union.

“All of us know Lake Erie has experienced some incredibly large and harmful algal blooms over the past few years. OFU is joining with the Ohio Environmental Council to put together an event where farmers and others who are dependent upon agriculture can learn and share their views and experience. This is a controversial topic for some in agriculture, but it is one that we need to address as an industry and a local economy,” Wise added.

Specifically, Wise is talking about the blooms of cyanobacteria – often called blue-green algae – that have plagued Lake Erie in recent years. Increasing levels of dissolved phosphorous in the lake’s water have been tied to these pollution events which are not only smelly and unsightly, but can emit toxins dangerous to human and animal health. The Ohio Lake Erie Phosphorous Task Force has said that the sources of the dissolved phosphorous are numerous but list agricultural fertilizers and sewage treatment plants as chief sources. OFU has adopted as one of its public policy priorities this year the promotion of voluntary nutrient pollution measures on Ohio’s farms.

OFU and the OEC will hold a northwest Ohio stakeholder education program on Friday, February 22 at the Hancock County Agricultural Service Center, 7868 County Rd. 140 in Findlay. The program will run from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch will be provided at no cost, but RSVPs are required. To RSVP please contact Linda Borton at 800-321-3671 or lborton@ohfarmersunion.org.

Presenters at the event include:

  •  Joe Logan, Director of Agricultural Programs for the Ohio Environmental Council
  • Ed Crawford, WLEB Program Specialist with ODNR, Division of Soil and Water Resources
  • Dr. Yi Shi, Research Specialist from Michigan State University’s Institute of Water Research
  • Representatives from Natural Resources Conservation Services and Ohio Sea Grant

 

NATIONAL FARMERS UNION

Click to Take Action



Contact

Ohio Farmers Union
P.O. Box 363
1011 N. Defiance Street
Ottawa, Ohio 45875
Phone: (419) 523-5300
Toll Free: (800) 321-3671