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United to Grow Family Agriculture Since 1934

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A few words on Toledo water crisis

August 6, 2014 By Ron Sylvester 2 Comments

Well, when roughly half a million people in and around Ohio’s fourth largest city can’t shower, wash clothes and dishes or drink their tap water for two days, the politicians start to pay attention to the annual environmental catastrophe known as the Lake Erie algal bloom.

If you’ve followed the Ohio Farmers Union’s take on water quality and agriculture’s role, you’ll know that OFU acknowledges the science that places agriculture at the top of the list of contributors of nutrients into Lake Erie and other surface waters and we are committed to having agriculture be a major part of the solution.

In reviewing the State’s response to our water quality problems, we believe there is one segment of nutrient management that has been ignored by the decision-makers in Columbus. That’s the use of manure from large animal feeding operations. Ohio is home to many thousands of these industrial scale livestock facilities. Only the 200 largest of which are managed under oversight of the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA). Manure from confined animal feeding operations supplies a significant proportion of the nutrients that Ohio farmers use to boost crop production.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Fertilizer, Lake Erie, Manure, Nutrient Management, SB 150, SB 490, Toledo, Water

SB 150 – Nutrient Management Bill – Signed by Kasich

June 9, 2014 By Ron Sylvester Leave a Comment

As Gov. John Kasich signs Sub. S.B. 150, the bill's sponsors and ODA director look on. L-R standing: Sen. Bob Peterson, Sen. Cliff Hite, ODA Director David Daniels. Photo: Ron Sylvester, OFU.

As Gov. John Kasich signs Sub. S.B. 150, the bill’s sponsors and ODA director look on. L-R standing: Sen. Bob Peterson, Sen. Cliff Hite, ODA Director David Daniels. Photo: Ron Sylvester, OFU.

Substitute S.B. 150 is the legislation which mandates Ohio Dept. of Agriculture certification for most farmers and others who apply chemical fertilizers. ODA officials have said that it will take until 2017 before most farmers in Ohio are affected by the new regulation. The bill was originated through work by Senators Cliff Hite and Bob Peterson as well as ODA, Ohio EPA and the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources in reaction to phosphorous overloads in the Lake Erie watershed and other waters in the state. OFU took a neutral stance on the bill after legislators removed manure from the state’s legal definition of “fertilizer” and as part of the definition of “agricultural pollution.”

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bob Peterson, Cliff Hite, David Daniels, John Kasich, SB 150

Ohio Senate Ag to Hold Third Hearing on Nutrient Management Bill – Vote Expected

November 18, 2013 By Ron Sylvester 1 Comment

Over the past couple of weeks Senate Bill 150 – the nutrient management bill that would create a licensure scheme for many farmers applying fertilizer to their fields in Ohio – has been moving through the Ohio Senate Committee on Agriculture.

S.B. 150 was actually replaced with a new or substitute bill and is now officially Sub. S.B. 150. The bill received its second hearing last week where several amendments were unanimously accepted and testimony was heard from various farm groups, the Ohio Environmental Council, municipal water managers and Lake Erie charter fishing captains.

gardnerfeat

Ohio State Sen. Randy Gardner

The seven amendments added last week were for the most part technical in nature and were quickly accepted by Democrats and Republicans alike on the committee. One amendment, technically sponsored by Sen. Cliff Hite, R-Findlay, the Ag Committee chairman, was actually conceived by Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green. The amendment would make it possible for funds already appropriated and unused to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program “to be used for purposes of that appropriation item related to open lake disposal of dredge material in Lake Erie.” Hite and Gardner said the amendment will allow the fund’s resources to be used more effectively to help deter open-lake disposal of material dredged from the Toledo shipping channel.

There’s a great story on this issue from over the weekend in the Toledo Blade.

As for testimony by farm groups, including OFU, it was all one-sided – or shall we say ‘no-sided.’

Testimony was heard from OFU, The Ohio Soybean Association, The Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association and the Ohio Agribusiness Association. All parties testified as ‘neutral’ on the bill.

From Roger Wise, president of the Ohio Farmers Union:

“Our first point today is that too often our federal and state governments do not recognize the unique challenges that regulation of agriculture pose for small farmers. However, in the case of Senate Bill 150, OFU does not oppose the newly
proposed certification and licensure for fertilizer application. As a fertilizer bill, what is proposed is a good start. However, history and context remind us this legislation began as a nutrient management bill aimed at agriculture’s role in mitigating watershed quality problems across Ohio. What is being considered today does not address the entire scope of farming’s impact on Ohio’s lakes rivers and streams.”

Specifically, Wise said that taking the role of manure completely off the table in a bill that is aimed at improving water quality and potential agricultural pollution is short-sighted. He predicted that interested parties and legislators would be back on this issue in the future due to leaving manure out of the discussion.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bob Peterson, Cliff Hite, Nutrient Management, Randy Gardner, Roger Wise, SB 150

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