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Congratulations to the 2008-2009 Ohio FFA State Officer Team

President – Allen Schmitz, Mississinawa Valley
Vice President – Krystin Bachman, Bloom Carroll
Secretary – Nick Barney, Anthony Wayne
Treasurer – Sara Schmitz, Mississinawa Valley
Reporter – Caitlyn Dever, Johnstown-Monroe
Sentinel – Clark Sidle, Greenon
D1 President – Cambell Parrish, Edon Northwest
D2 President – Frank Gannett, South Central
D3 President – Laura Gordon, Triway
D4 President – Amy Richter, Gibsonburg
D5 President – Chris Gehret, Fort Recovery
D6 President – Casey Wilson, Fairbanks
D7 President – Alyssa Swinehart, Fairfiled Union
D8 President – Kimberlyn Schott, Ridgewood
D9 President – Andrew Bond, East Clinton
D10 President – Jeremy Grove, Chief Logan

Farmers had less than 5 days suitable for field work which allowed planting
of corn, soybeans, and oats. Reporters in the Northwest and South Central
districts report minimal to no apple and peach fruit crop damage from 1-2
nights of sub-freezing temperatures. South Central district producers also
report no damage to vegetable and strawberry plants from freezing
temperatures. Tobacco producers covered plants to protect from cold
temperatures. Northwest producers with winter damage to alfalfa hay fields
plan to replant alfalfa fields to corn, and will establish new alfalfa fields
elsewhere. Other field activities for the week included hauling manure,
spreading fertilizer, field tillage, herbicide application and planting
tomatoes and sweet corn.

As of Sunday May 4 winter wheat jointed was at 72 percent, compared to 70
percent last year and 75 percent for the five year average (2003-2007). Corn
acreage planted was at 31 percent, 2 days behind last year and 8 days behind
the five-year average. Corn emerged was at 1 percent, compared to 4 percent
last year and 8 percent for the five-year average. Eighty percent of the
Oats have been planted, which was 10 percent points ahead of last year, but 5
percentage points behind the five-year average. Oats emerged was at 37 percent
which was 4 days ahead of last year, but 3 days behind the five-year average.
Potato acreage planted was 52 percent complete, compared to 39 percent last year
and 52 percent for the five-year average. Ohio's apple acres were 92 percent in
full bloom, compared to 57 percent last year and 71 percent for the five-year
average. Ohio's peaches in full bloom were estimated at 88 percent, compared
to 61 percent last year and 73 percent for the five-year average.

CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITION
Seventy-three percent of the winter wheat acreage was rated in fair-to-good
condition, down 3 percentage points from last week. Oats condition was rated
at 91 percent in fair-to-good condition. Hay condition was rated at 84
percent in fair-to-good condition, up 1 percentage point from last week.
Pasture condition was rated at 78 percent in fair-to-good condition, compared
to 79 percent last week. Eighty-three percent of the apples were rated in
fair-to-good condition, compared to 78 percent last week. Peaches were rated
at 82 percent in fair-to-good condition, compared to 76 percent week.
Eighty-two percent of the livestock were in fair-to-good condition, down from
85.

Senators Move to Halt Expansion of Ethanol Production

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain of Arizona and 23 other U.S. Senators, all Republicans, have urged the Environmental Protection Agency to halt the expansion of ethanol production. Their goal is to provide relief to higher food prices around the world. But, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, says the request would cut short the promise of biofuels for our nation’s energy security and is without merit. In fact, Senator Harkin says EPA should not only uphold the ethanol standards contained in the energy bill, but expand the RFS to 36 billion gallons by 2022.

Singling out increased biofuels production and use in the United States, European Union and other countries as the chief cause of higher world food prices - according to Harkin - is an over-simplification of the problem. He says strong demand for imports by the Asian countries - including China and India - the weak U.S. dollar - high energy costs and poor recent harvests in key production countries such as Australia and the European Union are all contributing to the problem.

Harkin set the challenge: get to the heart of the problem by evaluating the root cause of high food prices and expanding the use of alternative feedstocks in ethanol production. He called for the investment in production of biofuels from cellulosic materials in the farm bill currently moving through Congress.

USDA to purchase up to $50 million in pork products

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week announced plans to purchase up to $50 million of pork products which will be donated to child nutrition and other domestic food assistance programs.

"We provide food assistance to one in every five Americans," said Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer. "We are working to increase benefits due to rising food costs and to ensure we have full funding for our food assistance programs."

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) purchases a variety of high-quality food products each year for distribution by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for the national school lunch program, the school breakfast program, the summer food service program, the food distribution program on Indian reservations, the nutrition program for the elderly, the commodity supplemental food program and the emergency food assistance program. USDA also makes emergency purchases of commodities for distribution to victims of natural disasters.

Based upon USDA's intent to buy these pork products, FNS will survey potential recipients to determine how much product will be accepted for shipping. AMS will seek the lowest overall cost by publicly inviting bids to supply the desired quantity and by awarding contracts to responsible bidders.

“The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is pleased with the Agriculture Department’s announcement,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said in a statement following the decision. AFBF, along with the National Pork Producers Council, requested the action last month in response to continued low prices for pork and live hogs, which have resulted in financial distress to many producers.

“USDA’s help could not come at a more critical time,” he said. “This procurement program offers two important benefits: it helps farmers facing record-low pork prices, while at the same time providing healthy, nutritious protein to their fellow citizens who are in need. It's a win-win for producers and the public.”

The commodities must meet specified grade requirements and be USDA-inspected or graded to ensure quality. AMS purchases only products of 100 percent domestic origin.

Take Your Horse with You Wherever You Go

With more than 307,000 horses in Ohio, more so than even Kentucky, and over 200,000 horsemen and women, the Ohio's Horse license plate hopes to take a chunk of the $5 million purse Ohio specialty plates bring in annually.

The Ohio's horse license plate will soon be available for purchase at the BMV, costing the owner of a car, truck or trailer an additional $30 annually. The Ohio Coalition for Animals will receive $20 from every plate sold. Funds will be dispersed throughout the state to assist with the challenges facing the horse industry of Ohio.

The Ohio Coalition for Animals is a nonprofit organization who will use the money generated by the sale of the Ohio's Horse license plate to fund educational, charitable and other statewide programs that will help horse owners.

“The issue of unwanted horses is an important and challenging issue and it affects all breeds and activities in the equine industry,” said Charles Ruma, owner of Beulah Park. “I'm happy to help get the word out that the Ohio's Horse license plate is available. The much needed funds from the sale of Ohio's Horse license plate can't come soon enough to help deal with the multiple issues facing the struggling horse industry in Ohio”.

According the Ohio Coalition for Animals, the following are a few of the issues causing the horse industry to suffer:

Economic constraints have led to unwanted horses. While the minimum yearly cost to keep a horse is about $1,825, veterinary and farrier costs, as well as boarding costs for one horse can easily reach $5,000 a year.
The drought-plagued summer of 2007 caused skyrocketing prices of hay with a dwindling supply.
No government funding exists for rescue and adoption groups who depend solely on public support. The downturn in the economy, skyrocketing fuel and other living costs are claiming dollars that might have previously gone to horse nonprofits as charitable contributions.
Affordable, accessible and humane ways to dispose of unwanted horses in Ohio is lacking. Federal legislation banning slaughter for human consumption has left 80,000 to 100,000 horses nationwide in neglectful situations or being transported to antiquated slaughter facilities in Mexico.
With wagering down more than 30 percent since 2001,and dwindling purses paid out to winning horses and their owners, finding financial means to operate the state’s race horse farms is becoming harder all the time leading to more unwanted horses.

ODPA Commends ODA and Legislators for Dairy Labeling Ruling

The Ohio Dairy Producers Association, representing hundreds of Ohio dairy farmers, commends the Ohio Department of Agriculture and State Legislators for creating the benchmark in dairy labeling.

The consumer is entitled to complete, honest, and up-front information regarding the foods they eat, and we believe this dairy labeling rule will help secure that right. ODPA supports consumer choice in the marketplace, as long as those choices are presented accurately.

The dairy labeling rule prevents the use of misleading claims like "pesticide free," and "antibiotic free," compounds the U. S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not permit in any milk.

The new rule also allows marketers to continue differentiating their product in the marketplace based on farm practices with such statements as "from cows not treated with rbST."

Marketers are now required to accompany these truthful statements with a disclaimer providing further information indicating that there is no safety, quality, or compositional difference between milk with and without rbST.

Legislation should be based on the most up-to-date scientific knowledge from a recognized and credible source.

The FDA has affirmed and reaffirmed that there is no safety, quality, or compositional difference between milk from cows treated with rbST and milk from cows with only naturally occurring bST.

By providing the consumer with more information, the disclaimer offers more choices to anyone who might have otherwise been limited in their options with the mistaken belief there is a safety concern with some milk.

ODPA applauds ODA Director Robert Boggs for protecting consumer interests with a responsible labeling rule, and for being progressive with dairy labeling that should be adopted nationwide.

Another Request for Ethanol Waiver

First it was Texas Governor Rick Perry last week asking for a waiver to reduce the required blending of ethanol in gasoline by 50%. Now Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell is jumping on the bandwagon claiming the ethanol blending mandate is the cause of higher food prices.

Congress passed legislation last year that requires the use of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022 and that more than 9 billion be blended with gasoline in 2008.

During a joint hearing in Congress last week, USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber told members that while the use of corn and soybean oil for production of manufacturing fuels may have a small role in the rise in the retail price of food, other factors such as oil prices of more than $120 a barrel, drought in Australia and increased global demand have much more to do with it.

Senate-House Conference Committee Adopts Chief Farm Bill Initiatives
New Farm Bill is Basically Completed, Says Conference Committee Chairman
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and of the Senate-House conference committee on the new farm bill, today announced that the conference committee had agreed upon and approved all major elements of the new farm bill. Staff for the Senate and House agriculture committees and for conferees will continue to work through finalizing a few remaining issues and obtaining official budget scoring from the Congressional Budget Office. The completed legislation will have to be approved by both the Senate and House before being sent to the White House.

“Today’s adoption of all major elements of the new farm bill brings us within a few steps of the finish line,” said Harkin. “The Senate-House conference committee on the farm bill is now in the final stages of a strong, bipartisan bill that that will bring new funding and better policy in core farm bill initiatives – conservation, energy, nutrition and rural development – while continuing and strengthening farm income protection.

“This bill provides support for everything from agricultural research and beginning farmers to protecting our natural resources and helping to feed hungry families. It looks to the future in renewable energy production and it ensures farmers have the income protection they need. Congressional negotiators have come a long way and are preparing to send the President a farm bill he can sign.”Highlights of the conference report titles include:

Commodities Title:
The bill includes a newly named Producer Income Protection title that continues basic features of the 2002 bill, which farmers have thought worked well, and it gives producers a new option, beginning with the 2010 crop year, to choose to participate in a state-level revenue protection system. The Average Crop Revenue program, modeled after legislation proposed by farmers and introduced by Senators Durbin and Brown, offers producers better options for managing risk of both yield and price declines on their farms in today’s uncertain, rapidly changing farm environment.

Conservation Title:
The new CSP, renamed Conservation Stewardship Program provides incentives for adopting, improving and maintaining sound conservation practices on land in agricultural production. The program will enroll just under 13 million acres each year (starting in 2009) through 2017, for a total of nearly 115 million acres. An additional $1.1 billion was provided for CSP for a total of $12 billion over 10 years.

This title shifts the focus in conservation strongly in the direction of working land conservation. Funding that would not have been used in land retirement programs was redirected to programs that focus on reducing the environmental impact of agricultural production, like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and CSP.

Energy Title:
Increases Biofuels Production: The farm bill will accelerate commercialization of advanced biofuels, like cellulosic ethanol, by helping farmers produce biomass crops, by providing grants and loan guarantees to support these new biorefineries, and by increasing bioenergy research to guarantee that we have a continuing flow of more productive and resource-conservative technologies in the decades to come.

It also expands the very successful renewable energy and energy efficiency program that has been helping our farmers and ranchers and rural small businesses since it was adopted in the 2002 farm bill.

Livestock Title:
The new farm bill includes the first-ever Livestock Title to provide basic protections for producers in livestock and poultry markets. Among the highlights:
Provides producers the ability to decline to be bound by an arbitration clause in a livestock or poultry contract.
Enables a producer to settle a dispute in the Federal judicial district where he or she lives rather than where the company headquarters is located.

Provides the compromise for country of origin labeling of meat, fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans and macadamia nuts
Improves oversight of USDA’s enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act be requiring the Department to provide an annual compliance report detailing the number and length of time spent on investigations of potential violations of the Act.
Assist hog producers by authorizing a program for trichinae certification to promote trade and marketing of pork.

Nutrition Title:
Federal Food Assistance: historic investments in fighting hunger and inadequate nutrition, including:
ending benefit erosion caused by inflation
providing food assistance without requiring recipients to exhaust savings and retirement accounts
increasing food assistance to households with high child care costs
$1.25 billion dollars in commodity purchases for food banks

Child Nutrition:
$1 billion to improve child nutrition by expanding the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program nationally.

Research Title:
Organic Research and Extension Initiative: The Research Title provides $78 million in mandatory funds for the program, which enhances the ability of organic producers and processors to grow and market organic food, feed and fiber.

Specialty Crop Research Initiative:
The bill provides $230 million in mandatory funds for this new grants program to help meet the needs of producers and processors of specialty crops in the areas of mechanization, plant breeding, genetics, genomics, pests and diseases, and food safety.

Rural Development Title:
Rural Water and Wastewater: $120 million in mandatory funds for the pending rural development loan and grant applications for rural water and wastewater assistance.

Value-Added Producer Grant Program:
$15 million for the program, which encourages independent producers of agricultural commodities to process their raw commodities into marketable goods.

Rural Microenterprise Assistance Program:
$15 million in mandatory funds for the program, which provides technical assistance and small loans to beginning entrepreneurs to help start businesses in rural areas.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables:

Organics:
Funding for The National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program has been increased from $5 million in the last farm bill, to $22 million. The farm bill also supports the Organic Data Collection Initiative, which provides USDA and organic producers with national production and market data to effectively market their products.

Pest and Disease Detection:
Over $400 million over the next ten years for a new program to improve our pest and disease detection capabilities. The bill also provides $20 million for the National Clean Plant Network, which will strengthen our research to improve plant health and eradicate plant viruses.

Farmers’ Markets:
Expansion of the Farmers’ Market Promotion Program, first created in the 2002 farm bill, by providing $33 million over the next five years to continue our investment in promoting fresh, local foods.

GPS Steering the Fastest Technology Adoption in the History of Agriculture

A 'perfect storm' of motivators were aligned to make this possible. "Record crop prices and unprecedented levels of risk on crop inputs have provided ideal conditions for rapid adoption," says Robert Hill, principal of Caledonia Solutions. "At the same time, manufacturers have gotten better at creating a positive customer experience."

The study from Caledonia Solutions details brand winners and losers in the marketplace of farm technology adoption, including GPS steering devices and wireless datalogging technology. "We are beginning to see classic symptoms of a market approaching maturity. Prices are deflating and products are appearing less differentiable on technical merit from the customer perspective."

According to the study, brand differentiation has now emerged based on creating more positive customer experiences. Says Hill, "Two years ago we could see that no manufacturer seemed to 'get it' regarding the customer experience. Today we see indications that manufacturers have paid closer attention to the customer experience and that this may be what separates the winners and losers of the future in this technology."

Ohio Farm and Country Airing on ONN

Ohio Farm and Country, Ohio Farm Bureau’s half-hour news-magazine program that has been airing on RFD-TV since November of 2005, can now be seen on ONN (Ohio News Network).

Hosted by ABN’s Andy Vance and Lindsay Hill, Ohio Farm and Country will air a new episode each month. The program can be seen on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and again on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.

ONN is a statewide cable channel that is on cable networks in 83 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

The show will continue to air on RFD-TV as part of the Farm Bureau Today program every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Click here to learn more

2007 Ohio FFA State Convention

The BARN is your home for complete coverage of the convention including video interviews.

NEW! CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEOS FROM THIS YEAR'S STATE CONVENTION>>>