Ohio Farmers Union

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CAUV Values to Skyrocket for 2014 Tax Year

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CAUV-2014-ChartFixedFarmers across Ohio have benefited in the past in regards to CAUV values that have been kept extremely low and now these values are scheduled to increase quite a bit in the next few years.

Ted Finnarn, Darke County attorney, is the Ohio Farmers Union representative to the Agricultural Advisory Committee of the Division of Tax Equalization and this CAUV Advisory Committee functions to advise the Ohio Department of Taxation on the operation of the Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) law and the consequent valuations used under the law.

Finnarn has served on this State Committee for over 38 years originally being appointed by the Ohio Farmers Union in 1976. Scott Zumbrink, Darke County Treasurer, has also served on the committee, representing the State Treasurers’ Association since 2007.

According to Finnarn and Zumbrink, the CAUV table valuations (which vary according to soil type, slope, drainage and soil management groups, using inputs of a 5-year “olympic” average of crop prices and costs of production) will increase substantially for tax year 2014 effective for taxes to be paid in 2015. When the more important comparison is made between the 2011 table valuations to the 2014 valuations (the 2011 table being the last one used by counties, which will now use the 2014 values, due to the 3 year rotation), farmers may see increases of approximately 110-185% or more in CAUV values.

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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:

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July 24 &25: Ohio Ag and Lake Erie Water Quality Issues Educational Program for Farmers

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Ohio’s family farmer organization is joining a respected environmental advocacy group to educate and hear from northwest Ohio farmers and others who are interested 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 two northwest Ohio Lake Erie education programs on Wednesday, July 24 at Terra State Community College, 2830 Napoleon Road, Fremont, Ohio and Thursday, July 25 at the Schnipke Inn, 202 W. Main Street, Ottawa. 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.

Earlier this month, Research scientists from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Ohio Sea Grant and Heidelberg University predicted that harmful Algae will Once again bloom in Lake Erie in 2013. They predicted that this year’s bloom will be significantly worse than 2012, when the drought reduced runoff and nutrient to the lake.

Please join with us (OFU, OEC, NRCS and SWCDs) to discuss the importance of nutrient management, soil quality and conservation practices.

 

OFU Efforts Pay Off – Grain Indemnity Update Signed by Gov. Kasich

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Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs Senate Bill 66 which updates Ohio's Commodity Handlers law, also known as the grain indemnity fund and program.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs Senate Bill 66 which updates Ohio’s Commodity Handlers law, also known as the grain indemnity fund and program.

COLUMBUS – Gov. John Kasich today signed into law S.B. 66 which affords Ohio’s farmers status as first in line for assets in the event of a grain elevator failure and boosts the size of the farmer-funded grain indemnity program.

The Ohio Farmers Union and other state ag organizations worked for two and a half years with the bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Cliff Hite (R-Findlay) on the legislation. Hite also serves as chairman of the Ohio Senate Agriculture Committee.

“Family farmers are the winners with the updates to the grain indemnity law,” said Roger Wise, president of OFU.

“Before grain indemnity, smaller operators could be driven entirely out of business in the event of a grain elevator bankruptcy. We’ve been covered since 1983, but some have questioned – and the state has had to go to court – over the question of who is first in line as a creditor when an elevator fails.”

“It’s clear now in Ohio law that regarding elevator failures, the farmers who did business with that elevator are first in line,” Wise added.

Additionally, the updated law increases the size of the farmer-funded grain indemnity fund which pays producers for losses in the event of an elevator failure. OFU sought to have the fund size increased due to several years of historically high prices for corn and soybeans.

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Ohio Farmers Union offers comments on proposed water quality legislation

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Proposed bill has no sponsor, may be held in reserve if Lake Erie algae problems worsen

Lake Erie's 2011 algal bloom, satellite view.

Lake Erie’s 2011 algal bloom, satellite view.

With Grand Lake St. Mary’s essentially dead, increasingly frequent and enlarged algal blooms in the western basin of Lake Erie and problems of varying degrees in other Ohio bodies of water, the Kasich Administration has passed proposed nutrient management legislation around to several environmental and agricultural organizations in the state.

Comments were requested to be submitted to the directors of the Ohio Departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The Ohio Farmers Union submitted comments from President Roger Wise.

“We understand that historically state government has been reluctant to intervene in the business operations of Ohio’s agricultural producers. We are however dealing on another historic level regarding water quality in Ohio when one considers the devastating algal blooms in the western basin of Lake Erie and the de facto death of Grand Lake St. Mary’s,” wrote Wise.

Wise pointed out that OFU has entered into a strategic partnership with the Ohio Environmental Council and is providing high quality farmer education sessions throughout northwest Ohio regarding nutrient management and agriculture’s place in the problems of the Lake Erie Watershed.

“On the other hand, I am compelled to point out that the water quality issues taken up by the proposed legislation are also the responsibility of the several other stakeholders including the City of Detroit, other Lake Erie area municipal water treatment districts, homeowners and lawn treatment professionals,” Wise wrote.

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Ohio Farmers Union Statehouse Lobbying Day is March 13

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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.

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

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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

 

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Contact

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