County residents active at OFU convention

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COLUMBUS – Ten participants from Wood County joined nearly 250 delegates, non-voting members and guests
at the recent Ohio Farmers Union convention in Columbus. The meetings were highlighted by numerous
speakers including Secretary Tom Vilsack, of the United States Department of Agriculture, and U.S.
Senator Sherrod Brown.
The focus of the convention included shaping the organization’s 2014 public policy agenda. The 80th
annual state convention was its largest in several years.
Joe Logan of Trumbull County, was selected as the new president. He previously served on the OFU
Executive Committee and was also previously the group’s president. Logan and his family are longtime
dairy farmers who also produce grains and grass-fed beef. He also serves as the co-chair of the
Coalition for a Prosperous America, a bipartisan fair trade advocacy group.
Among the concerns of the membership are the long-term effects of fracking and the disposal of toxic
drilling wastewater. Those topics continue to dominate policy discussions among its membership.
Vilsack spoke at the convention just two days after a U.S. House vote to approve the final version of the
Farm Bill. The secretary thanked the group for their support of the bill and was confident of the Senate
to also pass the measure.
In particular, Vilsack said the National Farmers Union and its affiliates like OFU were responsible for
saving Country of Origin Labeling for U.S. meat products. He also stressed the importance of agriculture
noting it "remains as important as ever and the human values coming from the farm and small towns
are irreplaceable."
He urged the member to remain politically active and maintain a strong voice for rural America.
Prior to the Senate’s vote on the Farm Bill, Brown told the convention, "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 added, "I’m virtually certain we’ll pass it, and I am virtually certain the president of the
United States will sign it."
Regarding the Farm Bill Vilsack also said, "I think it is important and necessary that we explain to
our friends in cities and suburbs why farmers need these safety nets."
Adding, "I honestly don’t think that folks fully appreciate the risk that’s associated with farming.
You could be the best farmer in the world, you could make every decision correct, you could plant at the
right time, you could get the right chemical mix, you could get the right fertilizer, you could do
everything exactly right, and then Mother Nature can decide to rain for 40 days or not rain for 40
months. And your crop’s gone."
Logan was nominated by outgoing president Roger Wise who served OFU through six years which included
navigating the organization through some tough times including replacing an insurance business
partnership with its current property and casualty partner Hastings Mutual Insurance. Wise also began a
strategic plan process in 2013 that is aimed at further boosting membership and kick-starting youth and
other programming. Wise will continue to serve on OFU’s executive committee.
"The Ohio Farmers Union provides a unique and much needed voice for independent family farmers and
consumers, concerning critical issues like market fairness, food quality and safety, and the
environmental impacts and husbandry practices of modern industrialized agriculture," said Logan.

"I wish to thank Roger Wise for providing excellent leadership over the past six years at OFU. His
steady hand helped the organization negotiate some turbulent times, and I will be gratified to have his
counsel over the coming years," Logan added.
OFU convention delegates also approved a slate of policy priorities for 2014 in a ‘special orders of
business’ document. The effects of shale gas boom in large swathes of rural Ohio and current weaknesses
in the state’s regulatory regime led the topics of debate.
"A big challenge – and one we accept – is to work with others across the state and ensure the oil
and gas industry isn’t given carte blanche to operate in rural Ohio for a decade or two and leave our
farmland, air and water in worse shape than they found it," Logan said.
The Ohio Farmers Union has more than 4,000 members in Ohio working on legislative issues in the state
which affect family-sized, independent producers as well as cooperative education and marketing efforts
for family farmers.

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