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United to Grow Family Agriculture Since 1934

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Rural Broadband Gets Win in Ohio Budget

July 27, 2021 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

State Senators Matt Huffman, R-Lima, and Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, tried to kill $90 million for rural broadband expansion, yet the Ohio legislature’s House – Senate conference committee on the the next two-year state budget restored not only that, but the original $250 million for rural broadband proposed by Gov. Mike DeWine.

Huffman and Dolan said that they were concerned there were no plans existing in the state government to direct rural broadband funding. From the Taft and Strickland administrations through the DeWine administration, there have been many rural broadband expansion maps developed and planning done among private sector and public sector organizatons with the goal of pushing broadband internet access into rural areas of Ohio.

Huffman and Dolan said when the Senate version of Ohio’s biennial budget passed through the upper chamber, that there were no current plans for expanding broadband internet access in rural Ohio.

This was not correct.

In the fall of 2019, the DeWine administration updated the state’s rural broadband plan – aligning it with USDA guidelines – in order to make Ohio eligible for federal funding to add to any state funding.

Ohio Farmers Union asked House Speaker Robert Cupp, R-Lima and Huffman to restore the House version of broadband funding – totaling $90 million over the next two years.

OFU President Joe Logan wrote to Cupp and Huffman saying in part:

Broadband, we believe, should be treated as rural electrification was in the past. Internet connectivity – at decent bandwidth – is an economic necessity for farmers and their families. COVID-19 laid bare the disparity between rural Ohioans and our suburban and urban neighbors when our kids and grandkids were expected to learn online for many months. Furthermore, internet connectivity opens up opportunities for learning and eventual business development. Rural Ohio should not be left out of this trend.

OFU appreciates the restoration of the funding for rural broadband and will be watching over the next two years to see how that money is spent.

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature Tagged With: Rural Broadband

State Legislators Listen – Rural Broadband Back in Ohio Two-Year Budget

June 29, 2021 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

In a pleasant surprise for rural Ohio, the biennial budget was agreed to Monday with Gov. Mike DeWine’s full $250 million funding request for rural broadband expansion.

Just days ago, the Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Matt Dolan announced rural broadband funding was being cut from the budget to pay for an income tax cut that would net most Ohio taxpayers around $57 per year. The Ohio Farmers Union and others contacted legislative leaders in the Ohio House and Senate and asked that at a minimum, the House’s funding line of $90 million for rural broadband be reinstated.

Instead, the five percent tax cut became a 3 percent tax cut – and who knows what else occurred behind those closed doors – and Gov. DeWine’s initial request for $250 million was put in the budget.

OFU made the point to legislators that there have been broadband expansion plans on the books for years — beginning in the Taft and Strickland administrations — and DeWine updated the state’s strategy in the fall of 2019. Additionally, the USDA is still in the midst of rewarding hundreds of millions in rural broadband grants and Ohio’s latest strategy is designed to meet the criteria for USDA funding.

Additionally, GOP legislators tried to insert in the budget a provision disallowing municipalities or other government entities from participating in cooperative efforts to move broadband internet connectivity further into the countryside. This provision was abandoned in the final bill. It’s not clear who requested the language or why, but it would obviously the telecommunications industry dominated by mega corps like AT&T, Verizon, Spectrum and others.

Filed Under: Blog, Home-Feature Tagged With: Matt Huffman, Mike DeWine, Rural Broadband

Ag News Roundup – August 24, 2011

August 24, 2011 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

A few things we’re reading at the Ohio Farmers Union:

Drought has Texans looking to Ohio for hay

Ohio Cattlemen’s Association has been contacted by cattlemen in Texas and other drought-stricken states who are looking to purchase hay.

OCA is working with the Ohio Department of Agriculture to assist these cattle producers by identifying Ohioans who have hay available.

Read More

South Dakota’s Thune says next farm bill will focus on crop insurance

Argus Leader

Sen. John Thune and an assembly of agriculture advocates at a roundtable discussion Tuesday in Sioux Falls were in agreement that the next federal farm bill will be focused on crop insurance.

Farmers told Thune access to reasonably priced crop insurance is their safety net and is necessary to safeguard their futures.

Thune said it is the federal farm support most easy to defend when Congress and the president are looking for trillions of dollars of spending cuts.

“It makes sense to make this the centerpiece of ag policy,” Thune said. “Insurance is more defensible than subsidies.”

Read More

Vilsack says economics will have USDA conservation programs under pressure

US Ag Net

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said at the Iowa State Fair Friday that he hopes the next farm bill will preserve conservation programs that have been a part of federal farm legislation since the 1930s.

But the former two-term Iowa governor said economics makes continuation of conservation efforts uncertain.

“There was less interest by farmers in the last round of CRP signups,” Vilsack said, referring to the voluntary Conservation Reserve Program where farmers idle land in return for government payments. “In an era of high commodity prices and high costs, farmers are under more pressure.”

According to the Des Moines Register, the next farm bill, Vilsack said, will be a different animal than its predecessors.

Read More

Possible solution to Grand Lake St. Mary’s problem gets $1 million

ST. MARYS – The first of what could be a series of methane digesters here to turn animal waste into energy will receive a $1 million award from a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service grant, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said Monday.

Grand Lake St. Marys would be the beneficiary as animal waste that now flows into the lake from feeder streams, firing up toxic cyanobacteria blooms that have at times shut down the lake, is converted into methane gas.

“Not only will this help clean up the Lake, it will also help create jobs in the clean energy industry. This project will serve as a national model for an innovative solution to clean up toxic algae blooms creating jobs and provide consumers with a source of clean, domestic energy,” Brown said. “Grand Lake St. Marys has been an economic anchor of Mercer and Auglaize counties and I remain committed to pursuing all possible solutions to restore it.”

Mel Kurtz, president of Ohio company Quasar Energy Group, said the project will also show how to solve such problems elsewhere.

Read More

Dairy Industry seeks some relief

Idaho Statesman

With a gallon of milk costing as much as or more than a gallon of gasoline this summer, a consumer scanning the supermarket shelves might think milk is a cash cow for dairy farmers.

In reality, it isn’t. Though the price of a gallon hovers around $4, dairy farmers in Idaho and around the country are still struggling with the aftermath of what’s dubbed the Great Dairy Recession.

“For a young guy starting out in dairy farming, it’s tough,” said Jim Heckman, a farmer in Walker Township, Pa., who sold his dairy herd in May. “I wish them the best of luck, but I don’t think they’ll make it.”

Some in Congress, including Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, want to replace longstanding safety nets for dairy farmers with new ones that better reflect the challenges they face.

Read More

$103M to expand broadband Internet in rural areas

Coshocton Tribune

Telecommunications companies in 16 states will share more than $103 million in federal funding to help expand broadband Internet access to those areas of rural America that haven’t been reached by the high-speed service or are underserved, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

Policymakers, public interest groups and telecom companies are seeking to bridge the digital divide by reaching even the most remote pockets of the U.S. with broadband internet, hoping to improve economic and educational opportunities there.

“There’s a big gap that remains between rural and urban areas because it’s just hard to make a business case in rural areas,” said Jonathan Adelstein, the agriculture department’s rural utilities service administrator, in a conference call with reporters. “Rural areas’ future depends upon access to broadband and we’re not where we need to be today.”

Read More

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Ag News, Farm Bill, Rural Broadband, USDA

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