Serving Family Farmers and Consumers Since 1934
How would you like to save a few bucks on your workers compensation costs?
Maybe you’re satisfied in another workers’ compensation group rating program, but what if we could give you the same, or better, premium savings, along with competitive low fees that can’t be beat? [Read more…]
OFU Members at Dayton Summit: L-R Sibyl Miller, Jay Fry, Rev. Vanessa Cummings, William Miller, Ron Sylvester, Michael Stumo (CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America) Roger Wise, Joe Logan.
On a sunny day in Dayton, Ohio two weeks ago an unlikely assembly of farmers, labor leaders, local politicians, former Reagan Administration officials, academics and business owners came together to discuss what ails the American economic system and what can be done about it.
Organized by the Coalition for a Prosperous America, the event was one of several regional meetings held across Ohio in the past couple of months. Drawing its support from a support network of manufacturers, labor and agricultural organizations, CPA describes its mission as working for a new and positive U.S. trade policy that delivers prosperity and security to American citizens, farms, factories and working people. CPA views the U.S. trade deficit as an economic headwind, holding U.S. industry and agriculture back while allowing emerging economies to grow on the backs of displaced American workers and shuttered factories and farms.
In August alone, the U.S. trade deficit was nearly $29 billion. Agricultural products are as much a part of the issue as the manufactured goods consumers hear so much about in the media. According to CPA, the U.S. is now a net importer of these products as well.
NE Ohio farmer shows OFU members one jar of fracking fluid and another jar of water he said came from his well after fracking on his land.
One of the issues sure to be on the radar of the Ohio Farmers Union for some time to come is the Ohio’s natural gas boom.
How long the industrial and economic activity lasts – and what the lasting environmental consequences will be — are just two of the many questions OFU and others are asking.
OFU’s current policy statement concerns the method by which natural gas drillers will extract gas from the ground. So-called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” will be used to exploit the Marcellus and Utica Shale gas formations. For now, drilling will occur primarily in Eastern Ohio.
Lying thousands of feet below the earth’s surface, natural gas is embedded in the pores of the shale. Fracking technology allows well drillers to bore vertically for hundreds or thousands of feet and then bore horizontally for up to a mile. At extremely high pressure, fracking fluid, also called drilling fluid, is forced down the well where it creates fractures in the rock, releasing the gas to be collected. The fluid is mostly water and sand but does include chemicals.
Fracking proponents say that their drilling activity is so far beneath the water table that the chances for them to pollute groundwater are slim to none. They also point to industry practices of hauling away drilling site waste water by the truckload to be recycled or for disposal. Opponents point to evidence of environmental havoc being created in states like Pennsylvania where the gas boom is already well underway. They complain of clear cutting, truck and machinery traffic wearing on rural roads and noise and water pollution.
OFU’s current policy on fracking states:
OFU calls on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to assure that the oil and gas drilling practice known as “hydraulic fracturing” or “hydro-fracking” is regulated to protect the health of Ohio citizens and the quantity and quality of Ohio’s groundwater.
What this means going forward, and whether OFU bolsters the policy, hinges on several potential policy prescriptions which could be addressed by the Ohio General Assembly in the next several months.
“What the Farmers Union is looking for from the legislature and the Kasich Administration is twofold. We want transparency in place regarding what natural gas companies are putting into the ground and how they dispose of their waste, and we want to know that rural landowners are protected and dealt with fairly,” said Roger Wise, OFU president.
Whether you are a family farmer, rural resident or a consumer – and we’re all consumers – this is an important time to join the Ohio Farmers Union.
As an Ohioan who is concerned about revitalizing local economies and what your family eats you’ll get OFU’s representation in Columbus before the Kasich Administration and the Ohio General Assembly. This means that you are helping to lift the voices of ordinary family farmers, small ranchers and the issues that help them keep locally grown and raised, healthy food as a choice in your area. The cards are stacked against truly small businesses in this country, including farmers. OFU is interested in going at issues that affect local economies, families and consumers – we’re not fighting for more power for agribusiness and others who limit our choices as consumers and approach our system of food from a profit first standpoint.
You will also become a member of the National Farmers Union which carries on the same fight in Congress.
Finally, for new members who join between now and the end of February 2012, a portion of your membership fee will be applied toward fighting hunger in America. Through a partnership among Feeding America, the National Farmers Union and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, a portion of your membership will be directly donated to Feeding America and matched by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Click here to learn more, or visit NFU’s Feeding America page to join now!
This video was taken at a September meeting sponsored by the Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga Counties Farmers Union. Joe Logan of the Ohio Environmental Council – and himself an Ohio Farmers Union member – discussed what hyraulic fracturing is, explained the Utica and Marcellus Shale natural gas play and outlined many of the environmental issues revolving around “fracking” for natural gas.
Wally Kauffman is a longtime Ohio Farmers Union member who is currently serving as the vice president of the Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga Counties Farmers Union. In this video clip from a recent public meeting held for family farmers and others interested in rural issues affecting northeast Ohio, Kauffman put forth his case for voting no on State Issue 2 this November. State Issue 2, if it should fail at the ballot box, will nullify Senate Bill 5 which the Ohio General Assembly passed and Gov. John Kasich signed into law earlier this year. S.B. 5 is a direct attack on Ohio workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain for wages, benefits and safety issues.
If you are concerned about rural Ohio, America’s family farmers and the quality of the food you eat there are many reasons to join the Ohio Farmers Union. From now until February 29, 2012 you can add helping to end hunger in America.
National Farmers Union and Feeding America have partnered to help fight hunger throughout the United States. According to Feeding America, one in six Americans struggles with hunger, including one-fourth of all children. When you join the Ohio Farmers Union, you are also joining NFU. National Farmers Union has pledged $10 to Feeding America for each new membership through next February. Additionally, OFU/NFU members’ direct donations to Feeding America qualify for a matching grant provided by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Existing members should visit Feeding America’s NFU page for information and to donate.
“We are very proud to work with Feeding America to tackle this important issue,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “Now, Farmers Union members can make an even bigger impact. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has challenged Farmers Union members to raise $50,000 by providing a matching grant. Every dollar donated by Farmers Union members will be matched by the foundation, up to $50,000.”
I spent a few hours at the Farm Science Review at Ohio State University’s Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London last week. Along with OFU President Roger Wise and OFU Executive Director Linda Borton, I attended a panel discussion put on by four OSU faculty members whose research and teaching revolve around rural economics, development and environmental issues. I hope to post, in this space soon, the entirety of the panel discussion after I get a few audio things fixed with the recording.
After the panel, I asked OSU Assistant Prof. Mike Lloyd who is based in Noble County as part of the OSU Extension Service. Lloyd has seen the natural gas boom begin in Ohio with an increase in mineral rights lease activity. Since he and others knew the gas rush was coming, he has also observed what has happened on the other side of the border in Pennsylvania and has spent time talking to local officials there about the economic impacts of the gas industry. Lloyd has also been providing some educational opportunities for eastern Ohio landowners on what to expect from the process of negotiating mineral rights on their land.
Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake Counties Farmers Union and Trumbull County Farmers Union are presenting a joint educational meeting: What Fracking will Mean to Us? Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing – a drilling method employed to extract natural gas or oil from wells in hard rock strata thousands of feet below the ground. Fracking will be used during the drilling of the Marcellus and Utica shales in Eastern Ohio for natural gas extraction.
(R-L) Sen. Sherrod Brown, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Rep. Marcia Fudge, Rep. Betty Sutton and Rep. Tim Ryan
Five Ohio members of Congress were awarded the Golden Triangle Tuesday by the National Farmers Union for demonstrating leadership and supporting policies that benefit family farmers, rural residents, ranchers and fishermen.
The five Ohioans are:
“Recipients of the Golden Triangle Award have been strong advocates for family farmers and ranchers, and exhibit similar principles and policies to Farmers Union,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “We are pleased to honor those who have proven to be true allies of our organization and our members across the country.”
Roger Wise, president of the Ohio Farmers Union said, “These members of Congress get it. The deck is stacked against family farmers and rural communities when it comes to policy and legislation. All five of these representatives have worked to ensure that our local economies are not left out in the cold when the big money interests show up on Capitol Hill.”
