Ohio Farmers Union

Serving Family Farmers and Consumers Since 1934



United to Grow Family Agriculture Since 1934

Ohio Farmers Union Outlines Policy Priorities for 2016

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Ohio’s Farmland Property Tax Problem, Frack Waste Key Issues

 COLUMBUS – From opposition to the Obama Administration’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership to advocacy for further reform in the way farmland is taxed in Ohio, the Ohio Farmers Union announced 2016 policy priorities today that touch both state and federal government.

OFU President Joe Logan said that the Farmers Union is one of the few remaining farm organizations that looks out exclusively for the independent, family farmer.

He said that on issues like international trade, government-sponsored commodity checkoffs and many issues in rural Ohio arising because of fracking, OFU’s stance is rooted in “looking out for the little guy.”

“Neither the National Farmers Union, nor the Ohio Farmers Union, have been captured by huge multi-national corporate interests or the ongoing trend for big business consolidation in agriculture,” Logan said.

“Our policy priorities are different. If you’re running a family-sized farm or working to build a local or regional food and fiber network, OFU puts your interests first.”

Two highlights from this year’s priorities are proposed reforms to Current Agricultural Use Valuation and the standards for fracking waste disposal wells.

CAUV is the system for taxing farmland that is currently in production. It was enacted in the 1970s and values farmland across Ohio according to its agricultural value rather than a general market value. CAUV has kept much of Ohio’s farmland from disappearing into urban and suburban sprawl and has helped farm families across the state continue to work their farms. Since the end of the Great Recession, farm families in Ohio have seen their CAUV assessments increase 50-300 percent.

OFU is backing S.B. 246 and H.B. 398, both pending in their respective houses of the Ohio General Assembly. Logan said both bills would update the complex formula used to determine CAUV land value to better reflect changes to the economy since the Great Recession. The wild fluctuations experienced over the past several years would be taken out of the system, legislators hope.

OFU is also calling on the Kasich Administration to change Ohio’s regulations concerning the deep wells used around the state to dispose of waste from fracking. This waste comes from Ohio’s gas and oil production as well as that of neighboring states.

Specifically, the 4,000-member family farmer group wants a moratorium on so-called Class II injection wells used for frack waste. OFU wants any new frack waste disposal wells to be built and regulated under Class I standards. Along with ensuring the wells would be built more robustly, Class I wells are regulated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rather than the Dept. of Natural Resources.

In all, OFU is unveiling nine 2016 policy priorities. Please follow this link for a document outlining them in their entirety.

OFU: Moratorium in Order for Class II Injection Wells

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ofulogofbfeatOFU President Joe Logan said that the Board of Directors of the Ohio Farmers Union has issued a  call for a moratorium on new Class II injection wells in Ohio.

Logan said the policy position emanated from members with farms in northeast Ohio and has gained traction as several county commissioners, township trustees and municipalities have entertained public forums and resolutions on issues with these wells.

“Many of us who live and work our farms near Class II wells are truly concerned about spills and accidents that have occurred and the fact that many of these wells are older infrastructure being put back into use due to increased fracking in Eastern Ohio and neighboring states,” Logan said.

“Eastern Ohio has become a dumping ground for fracking waste from surrounding states and we don’t believe the state’s inspection and public health and safety infrastructure and staffing has kept up with events in Eastern Ohio. The public would be better served by not allowing any further development of Class II sites for frack waste until Ohio establishes a program mandating air and water quality monitoring around injection wells along with a reporting requirement for disposed material” Logan said.

Logan said that Class I disposal well regulations, overseen by Ohio EPA, are more robust therefore creating an environment where accidents creating groundwater and soil pollution are less likely.

“We propose any new disposal wells intended for waste from horizontal hydrofracturing should meet Class I standards,” Logan said.

Lots of News Out of OFU’s 80th Convention

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1conventionThe Ohio Farmers Union has a new president and rural concerns about the long-term effects of fracking and the disposal of toxic drilling wastewater continue to dominate policy discussions among its membership.

OFU held its 80th annual state convention this past weekend. With 110 delegates attending from the state’s county Farmers Union organizations and several additional non-voting members, the family-farmer and consumer oriented group had its largest convention in several years. Nearly 250 people packed the convention hall for remarks by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, right, speaks to OFU youth delegate Joe Schmitz of Darke County at the 80th OFU Convention.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, right, speaks to OFU youth delegate Joe Schmitz of Darke County at the 80th OFU Convention.

Brown will get the chance this week to vote once again on the beleaguered, two-year delayed Farm Bill. The U.S. House accepted political compromise last week and approved a final version of the bill. Pending Senate passage later this week, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the measure which will replace most direct payments to farmers with an enhanced system of crop insurance.

“There are several titles in the farm bill, all of them important to this state. You think about rural development, you think about conservation titles, you think about commodities in title one and what we’ve been able to do there, and obviously you think about the nutrition part and all that helps make our state better,” Brown said.

“I’m virtually certain we’ll pass it, and I am virtually certain the president of the United States will sign it,” Brown added.

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2014 OFU ‘Special Orders of Business’

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Each year in late January, the Ohio Farmers Union holds its annual convention and outlines its main policy priorities for the coming year. These priorities are debated in OFU’s policy committee and by all delegates on the floor of the convention. This past weekend the 80th Annual Ohio Farmers Union Convention was held in Columbus. Here are OFU’s Special Orders of Business for 2014.

If you would prefer to download a PDF, click this link.

Special Orders of Business

Ohio Farmers Union

As Passed by the 80th Annual Convention, Columbus, Ohio

February 2014

 

Shale Gas Exploration & Production in Rural Ohio

The extraction of oil and natural gas from shale formations such as the Marcellus and Utica formations presents enormously complex technical challenges, consumes large volumes of fresh water and requires the use of a wide array of hazardous chemicals. Farmers Union urges caution in the development of such fossil fuel resources, as doing so will slow our progress toward renewable fuels and accelerate climate change.

OFU proposes the following policy recommendations in order to protect Ohio’s farmland, water and air from contamination associated with the drilling or hydraulic fracturing of production wells or from contamination associated with waste disposal of hazardous by-products from the process:

[Read more…]

Ohio doctor to speak in Geauga County on health effects of fracking

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From the Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake Counties Farmers Union:

Dr. Deborah Cowden, MD, will speak on the “Human Health Effects from Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing” on April 26, 2013, at 6:30pm at the Huntsburg Town Hall  (16534 State Route 322, Huntsburg, OH).

Cowden is a central Ohio physician and president of the Greene County Medical Society. The presentation will focus on what  Cowden calls the “assault on our air quality” from unconventional oil and gas development. She will present a recent scientific study in which air near gas wells was measured and found to contain more than 50 chemicals, including benzene, xylene, ethylbenzene, and toluene. These volatile organic compounds are known to have negative effects on human health; benzene in particular known to cause cancer in humans.

Under 2012 Ohio law, physicians and first responders cannot quickly obtain the identity of the chemicals used in fracking to which workers, neighbors, or first responders may be exposed. This puts first responders at risk, because fires containing benzene or xylene must be fought from upwind. According to Cowden, last week the Ohio State Medical Association “overwhelmingly passed a resolution asking the legislature to pass laws giving doctors and first responders the exact identity of all the chemicals located on a hydraulic fracturing pad”.

This event is free and open to the public. It is presented by Frack Free Geauga, with the sponsorship of Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake Counties Farmers Union, Lake Effect chapter of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, Faith Communities Together for Frac Awareness, Concerned Citizens of Portage County, Frack Free Lake County, NEOGAP, and Ashtabula County Water Watch.

For more information, contact Jessica Schaner at FrackFreeGeauga@gmail.com or 440-749-4655.

Ohio Environmental Council schedules several informational meetings on fracking

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From the Ohio Environmental Council:

Learn about the current state of laws and science of high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and how it affects you and your community.

Representatives from the Ohio Environmental Council also will discuss air, land, and water quality concerns.

FREE to attend but please RSVP to the OEC at (614) 487-7506 or OEC@theOEC.org. Complimentary food and beverages provided.

Dates & Details

Date Time Address
June 21 3 – 7 p.m. Reed Memorial Library
Haymaker Room
167 E. Main St
Ravenna, 44266
June 23 10 a.m. –
2 p.m.		 Stark County District Library
North Branch Basement
189 25th Street NW
Canton, 44709
June 27 3 – 7 p.m. Columbiana Public Library
Salchow Room
332 N. Middle Street
Columbiana, 44408
June 27 4 – 8 p.m. First Congregational United
Church of Christ
Social Hall
200 N Main Street
Mt. Vernon, 43050
June 30 10 a.m. –
2 p.m.		 Newark Public Library
Meeting Room A
101 West Main St
Newark, 43055
July 7 10 a.m. –
2 p.m.		 St.James Episcopal Church
155 North Sixth Street
Zanesville, 43701
July 10 3 – 7 p.m. Coshocton Public Library
655 Main Street
Coshocton, 43812
July 12 4 – 8 p.m. New Philadelphia Public Library
Main Branch
121 Fair Avenue Northwest
New Philadelphia, 44663
July 19 4 – 8 p.m. Youngstown Public Library
Main Branch, Basement
305 Wick Ave
Youngstown, 44503
July 21 10 a.m. –
2 p.m.		 Carroll County District Library
70 Second Street NE
Carrollton, 44615
July 25 4 – 8 p.m. Public Library of Steubenville &
Jefferson County
Schiappa Branch
4141 Mall Drive
Steubenville, 43952

 

SB 315 – ‘Fracking Bill’ – Clears Ohio General Assembly

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Bill that adds some regulations to Ohio oil & gas industry on Kasich’s desk

Here’s a quick update on the bill that supporters say creates the toughest regulatory environment for fracking in the U.S. and that detractors say does not and is riddled with loopholes.

SB 315, Gov. John Kasich’s mid-budget energy bill, cleared the final hurdle in the Ohio General Assembly yesterday when it was voted out of the House. The governor is expected to sign the bill into law.

For more background on the bill, check out the OFU notes on SB 315. Here are a few events related to the legislation from the past week:

  • SB 315 passed the House 75-20 with 18 Democratic votes.
  • Amendment approved in House that gives standing to landowners and neighbors in court to challenge a drilling company on disclosure of a chemical that it will not disclose as a ‘trade secret.’
  • Amendment approved in House loosens the gag on doctors regarding chemicals disclosed to them by drilling companies.
  • Democratic amendments that would have strengthened transparency on chemicals used in fracking and protecting landowner rights were defeated.

[VIDEO] Here’s an idea for low-cost, do-it-yourself baseline well water testing

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If you farm near an injection well in Ohio where they dump frack waste water, you might try this

The ideas described in this video will not hold up in court against a polluter should your well water be contaminated by frack waste, but this technique – and working with your neighbors – could give you an affordable way to track one aspect of water quality. An increase in the level of chlorides in your water over time could be the canary in the coal mine telling you to get professional testing done.

OFU’s Stance on Fracking Tops Policy Highlights for 2012

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COLUMBUS – Members of the Ohio Farmers Union found a common-sense middle ground approach to Ohio’s natural gas boom during their 2012 public policy discussion at their recent convention.

The family farmer and consumer group approved language for this year which supports a limited moratorium on the issuance of permits by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for new instances of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the state. The OFU supported moratorium differs from those supported by some Democrats in the Ohio General Assembly and by some Ohio environmental groups in that it is tied to a preliminary U.S. EPA report due on fracking later this year – rather than the final study results due in 2014.

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