COLUMBUS — County delegates at the 2021 Ohio Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting voted on updates to the organization’s policies, revised the group’s membership structure and increased annual dues.
The 385 delegates, representing the county farm bureaus that make up the Ohio Farm Bureau, met Dec. 9 and 10 at the Columbus Convention Center.
Bill Patterson, who farms with his family near Chesterland, was re-elected as president of the Ohio Farm Bureau.
“This will be our moment to lead the organization and decide who we want to be and how we want to operate,” Patterson told the delegates. “Be bold, be visionary and take action.”
Membership changes
Delegates voted to approve code changes to eliminate membership classifications for active members, young active members and community members. Those membership classes are now combined as one class. Membership is available to anyone who supports the mission and vision of the Ohio Farm Bureau, however, all elected leaders must be agriculturalists.
An agriculturalist is defined as a person who is directly impacted by the health of the agricultural industry, as determined by the member county organization.
The delegates also approved an increase in state farm bureau dues. Individual counties will continue to set the amount for their dues, until Dec. 1 of 2025. The portion of dues sent to the state organization will increase Dec. 1, 2022 from $60 to $77. Then, beginning Dec. 1, 2025, dues for every member in the state will change to $120, with $90 going to the state organization and $30 remaining with the county organization.
The Ohio Farm Bureau will continue to pay the $5 American Farm Bureau dues out of the state portion. A discounted dues structure will continue for young members 18 to 25 years old. Starting Dec. 1 2022, young member dues will be $40, with $30 going to the state organization and $10 remaining with the county.
To avoid the need for large dues increases in the future, delegates also approved a code change requiring a review of dues at least every three years.
Policy updates
In addition to the code changes, the delegates considered updates to the policies of the Ohio Farm Bureau. Several of the updated policies focus on landowner rights, including a policy calling for notification of landowners when energy leases are transferred.
Another policy calls for changes to Ohio’s Scenic River Law to expand public notification and involvement in the process.
The delegates added a statement of support for the Ohio State Fair and its current location. The policy also calls upon the Ohio Expo Commission to place more emphasis on agricultural education and agricultural youth activities. A policy was proposed to support permissive scheduling of county fairs by individual counties, but that proposal was voted down.
Additional policies were added to support urban agriculture, require roundabouts to be engineered to accommodate modern farm equipment and support government incentives to producers who distribute cosmetically imperfect foods to food banks.
Delegates also passed a policy change calling for removal of the annual CAUV renewal requirement to simplify the process. Another policy addition calls for statewide expansion of the H2Ohio program along with necessary funding increases. Policy was also added calling for the Ohio EPA Division of Drinking and Ground Water to ensure compliance with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, holding industries and municipalities accountable for violations.
Challenges ahead
Adam Sharp, executive vice president for the Ohio Farm Bureau, spoke during Friday’s annual meeting session on the challenges and opportunities ahead for members and the organization.
“Now is the time when farm bureau does what farm bureau does best,” he said. “Get together and solve problems.”
Sharp urged members to look closely at political candidates in up-coming elections and use farm bureau’s election guides to evaluate candidates’ voting records.
“Do your homework and support all those who support Ohio agriculture,” he said.
Water quality is one of the ongoing issues facing Ohio agriculture, Sharp said. He encouraged farmers to expand their participation in the Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative, which currently has 2,000 farmers enrolled covering a million acres.
The project is having an effect on water quality in the Maumee River, he said, “Ohio agriculture will do our part, we expect everybody else to do theirs.”
Another challenge for farm bureau is Senate Bill 52, which was passed through the Ohio legislature earlier this year, Sharp said. The legislation affects the rights of property owners who want to develop solar or wind energy projects on their land.
“It limits the ability of landowners to do what they want on their farms,” Sharp said.
Farm Bureau is developing resources to help landowners deal with those new regulations, he added.
First Y Prize awarded
During the Ohio Farm Bureau annual meeting, the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation awarded the first Yvonne Lesicko Perseverance Prize to Jami Dellifield, a family and consumer sciences educator with Ohio State University Extension in Hardin County.
The award, nicknamed the Y Prize, was created to promote causes important to Yvonne Lesicko, former vice president of public policy for Ohio Farm Bureau, who died unexpectedly in 2020.
Dellifield was recognized for her innovative work on farmer mental health initiatives. She is a trainer and an advocate for mental health literacy programs such as Mental Health First Aid and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR). These programs focus on recognition of the signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use problems.
Distinguished service
The Ohio Farm Bureau recognized four Distinguished Service Award recipients for their contributions to agriculture and farm bureau: Dr. Tony Forshey of Licking County (recognized posthumously), Belinda Jones of Franklin County (recognized posthumously), Randy Leis of Montgomery County and Keith Stimpert of Franklin County.
As a veterinarian, Forshey contributed to the improvement of the swine industry through his work on herd health and disease prevention. As chief of the division of animal health for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, he worked with the Ohio Farm Bureau to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.
Jones advocated for agriculture throughout her 30-year career in the Ohio statehouse. She also served as corporate counsel for The Scotts Co. and as legislative council for the Capitol Consulting Group.
Leis, a farmer and long-time farm bureau leader, first became involved in farm bureau in 1975 when he served at the county level. He went on to serve on the state board of trustees from 1993 to 2011, representing members from Butler, Hamilton, Montgomery and Preble counties.
Stimpert has served agriculture throughout his four-decade career beginning as a farm bureau organization director in southwest Ohio in 1978. In 1987, while also serving as director of commodity activities for farm bureau, Stimpert became executive director of the Ohio Soybean Association and served in that position for nine years.
He went on to serve as vice president of government affairs at Ohio Farm Bureau for 16 years. In 2011, he was named senior vice president for the organization department and was responsible for leadership development, IT, member benefits, membership and field operations.
State leaders elected
Two new Ohio Farm Bureau trustees were elected during the annual meeting and six others were re-elected to their positions on the 25-member board.
The new board members are: Bill Myers, representing Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood counties; and Kyle Walls, representing Coshocton, Holmes, Knox and Licking counties.
Those re-elected are Matt Bell, representing Guernsey, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry counties; Danielle Burch, representing Columbiana, Mahoning, Portage and Stark counties; Wyatt Bates, representing Jackson, Pike, Scioto and Vinton counties; Karin Bright, representing Athens, Gallia, Lawrence and Meigs counties; Michael Boyert, representing the northeast region; and Rose Hartschuh, representing the northwest region.
