Ohio’s senior U.S. Senator and U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee member, Sherrod Brown, will deliver remarks to the 82nd Annual Ohio Farmers Union Convention on Friday.
Brown is expected to meet and greet OFU members around 11:45 on the convention floor and he’ll speak at 12:20.
“Sherrod Brown has been a friend to Ohio family farmers through thick and thin,” said Ron Sylvester, OFU spokesman.
“His command of agricultural issues and help in our fights in Washington for items like a fair Farm Bill and Country of Origin Labeling are things for which our members appreciate Senator Brown,” Sylvester said.
This being OFU Convention time, the family farm organization that boasts 4,000 members statewide will also discuss and vote on public policy positions for 2016.
National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson will also attend OFU’s convention and address the gathering on national policy issues.
Sylvester said pre-convention policy work has already identified eight proposed “special orders of business” for the group for 2016. Topics include the encroachment of private-sector owned pipelines and rural landowners, agricultural property taxes, water quality and U.S. trade policy.
“Convention delegates will debate the issues and ultimately vote on whether OFU takes particular policy positions for the year. It’s also interesting to see what special orders may come up from the convention floor on the day one of the meeting,” Sylvester said.
In addition to the special orders, OFU will consider changes to state policy in manure and nutrient management as well as the addition of a sentence to policy that states, “Money is not speech and corporations are not people.”
Delegates and convention-goers will have a full slate of presentations regarding farming matters in Ohio including a talk on Edge of Field Research by Dr. Mark Williams of USDA, an overview of current national family farm issues from National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson and an explainer on proposed changes to agricultural property taxes (CAUV). Click here for a full program of events.
It was a great opening day. Loved that Senator Sherrod Brown made an effort to meet every person there. Good info on edge of field runoff measurements and appreciated all the one on ones with other members about state and federal policy issues. Wish I could be there for day 2.