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ABN EXCLUSIVE:
Ohio Director of Agriculture Responds to IDFA Lawsuit

Lindsay Hill visited with Director Robert Boggs about the dairy labeling issue.

ODPA Denounces IDFA Lawsuit

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

ODPA is disappointed in the International Dairy Foods Association for filing a lawsuit against the State of Ohio challenging Ohio's dairy labeling regulation. We believe Ohio's dairy labeling rule helps secure the consumer's right to complete, honest, and up-front information regarding the foods they eat.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (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.

In Ohio, marketers are required to accompany the production claim "from cows not treated with rBST" with a disclaimer providing further information indicating that there is no safety, quality, or compositional difference between milk with and without rBST.

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 the state of Ohio for protecting consumer interests with responsible labeling regulation, and for being progressive with dairy labeling that should be adopted nationwide.

Scott Higgins, CEO of the Ohio Dairy Producers Association discusses the dairy labeling regulation and how it affects consumer perception.

IDFA Files Lawsuit Against Ohio Department of Agriculture Over Milk Label Issue

A representative of the International Dairy Foods Association and Smith Dairy comment on the issue.

The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) today filed a lawsuit against the State of Ohio challenging its new regulations regarding the labeling of dairy products from cows
that have not been treated with artificial growth hormones. In the lawsuit, IDFA says the Ohio rule interferes with the First Amendment right of its members to communicate truthful information to Ohioans and with interstate commerce.

The complaint is the result of a controversial dairy product labeling regulation that went into effect on May 22, 2008 with a 120-day implementation period. IDFA members are manufacturers of dairy products, including milk, cheese and ice cream. They want to be able to tell consumers which products come from cows that have not been treated with the artificial growth hormone, commonly referred to as rbGH or rbST. IDFA's lawsuit says that Ohio’s rule -- which dictates not only the words, but the font, style, case, color and even size of the language that must be used on labels -- poses unconstitutional restrictions.

“The practical effect of the Ohio rule silences manufacturers of dairy products and prevents Ohioans from knowing whether artificial growth hormones have been used in dairy products,” said Peggy Armstrong, communications director for IDFA. Armstrong said Ohio’s labeling regulation is so cumbersome, especially for national and regional dairy manufacturers, that many will be forced to simply drop information about artificial growth hormones on packages altogether.

According to the IDFA lawsuit, the Ohio rule goes well beyond the labeling guidance offered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is significantly different than most other states. As a result, dairy companies will have to create special labels just for Ohio or do away with labeling that provides information about the use of artificial growth hormones. The net effect, IDFA says, is the Ohio law for many of its members is
unworkable, costly and impedes commercial free speech and interstate commerce.

In a declaration to the State of Ohio, Steve Schmid, president of Smith Dairy in Orrville, Ohio, said that complying with Ohio’s rule by the September compliance date would cost his company more than $6,250 per label and an additional $32,000 in current inventory would become obsolete.

In a similar declaration, William Luth of cheese processor Tillamook said that the Ohio regulation prevents Tillamook from selling nationally-branded products in Ohio unless the company changes all of its existing labels. Luth said the company cannot absorb these costs and may be forced to drop the “no use of rbST” claims on its labels, something consumers have repeatedly asked for.

A Ben & Jerry’s representative said the cost to change its labels would exceed $250,000, yet that is not the main reason the company filed a similar declaration against the State of Ohio. Rob Michalak said that to comply with the Ohio rule, the company would need to overhaul its entire distribution system to ensure Ohio received products with special labels, creating significant new and ongoing costs and putting the company at a
competition disadvantage to those who only distribute in Ohio.

Click here to read IDFA's complaint, motion and brief.

ORGANIC TRADE ASSOCIATION FIGHTS OHIO’S DAIRY LABELING ACTION
Files suit to protect integrity of organic standards & consumers’ Constitutional right to product information

THE FOLLOWING IS A STATEMENT BY THE ORGANIC TRADE ASSOCIATION
On June 30, 2008, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) filed a complaint against Ohio’s Director of Agriculture, Robert J. Boggs. This action was brought to protect the rights of consumers to receive truthful information about organic production practices on the labels of their milk and other dairy products in Ohio, and to protect the rights of organic dairy farmers and processors to communicate truthfully with consumers regarding federally regulated organic production practices.

In order to qualify for the organic label, organic farmers already are prohibited from using synthetic growth hormones such as recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBST or rBGH) on their livestock. The statements organic dairy farmers make about non-use of synthetic growth hormones refer to mandated production and handling obligations. Congress enacted the Organic Foods Production Act to establish national standards for marketing of all organic products.

The new Ohio regulation improperly dictates organic dairy labels by excessively limiting the ability of manufacturers to provide truthful and non-misleading information to consumers, and thus infringes their First Amendment Right of free speech.

The Ohio regulation also violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution–also known as the Interstate Commerce Clause–which gives Congress sole authority to regulate interstate commerce. States are prohibited from enacting regulations that directly regulate or discriminate against interstate commerce. The Ohio regulation has a direct impact on interstate commerce by regulating dairy products outside of Ohio that are shipped into the state and controlling the labeling of dairy products in Ohio that are shipped outside of the state.

The Ohio Governor's emergency regulation improperly violates the US Constitution in three fundamental ways:

1) The regulation stifles free speech by unduly regulating the language processors may use on their packages;
2) The regulation unduly restricts the flow of products in interstate commerce;
3) The regulation interferes with and is preempted by a longstanding federal organic law.

Ohio’s regulation prevents consumers in Ohio from receiving truthful information about the federally regulated farming and processing practices required by the Organic Foods Production Act for the production of certified organic milk and other organic dairy products. Any label by an organic producer that suggests that no artificial growth hormones are added is inherently truthful based on the organic industry’s careful adherence to the national standards governing the marketing of organic products.

Any restrictions on a person's ability to communicate details of these federally regulated organic production practices, such as the non-use of added growth hormones especially those derived from genetic engineering, pesticides and antibiotics, will hurt numerous organic farmers, producers and processors, and only help one entity – the seller of the rBST product – Monsanto. More importantly, the regulation will restrict the rights of consumers to provide truthful information about the milk produced by organic dairies.

OTA believes that the availability of milk and other dairy products without added growth hormones, and produced without the use of antibiotics, has helped staunch the decline in per capita milk consumption, and that it fulfills an important consumer demand.

In a time of unprecedented commodity pressures on milk producers, implementing regulations which impose significant cost and complexity on dairy producers suggests that the state is unaware of the economic hardships faced by domestic producers of milk.

Unfortunately, Ohio is not the only state erroneously attempting to regulate the labeling of dairy products placed in interstate shipment. OTA is concerned that, with many different states considering different labeling regulations with conflicting provisions, a confusing patchwork of rules could develop, making it costly, inefficient or even impossible to sell organic dairy products from one state to retailers and U.S. consumers in other states.

OTA recognizes the need for uniformity and consistency between states and regions relative to organic production and labeling. Ohio’s regulation will do exactly the opposite if allowed to go forward. It will create a series of confusing restrictions on truthful organic product labels. This could eventually lead to fewer choices for consumers in Ohio.

Great Lakes Manure Handling Expo Coming Soon

The Great Lakes Manure Handling Expo will take place July 9 at the Molly Caren
Agricultural Center (home of Farm Science Review) in London, Ohio. The expo is
sponsored by Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Michigan State University, Purdue University, Penn State
University and Cornell University. Additional sponsors include Ohio Composting and
Manure Management and the Midwest Professional Nutrient Applicators Association.

The theme of the Great Lakes Manure Handling Expo is "The Economics of Recycling," and will include commercial field demonstrations, educational demonstrations, educational sessions, and commercial vendor displays.

Session topics participants can look forward to include: calculating the value of manure nutrients, the benefits of proper equipment calibration, the importance of accurate record- keeping, how communication among applicator, producer and regulatory agency can improve application and the bottom line, safety precautions in manure application and storage, and case studies of farmers who will share their stories about manure management.

Educational demonstrations taking place during the event include solid manure
application rates, liquid manure applications rates, preferential flow, calibration of
manure application equipment, stockpiling best management practices, compaction,
slurry seeding and equipment safety.

Additional details about the Great Lakes Manure Handling Expo will be available
in the near future. To learn more, log on to http://oema.osu.edu, or contact Jon Rausch at (614) 292-4504; or Mary Wicks at (330) 202-3533.

Get Latest Field-crop Info at OSU Agronomy Field Day July 8

Find the latest research and information on managing field crops at Ohio State University’s Agronomy Field Day, 2-5 p.m., Tuesday, July 8, at the Western Agricultural Research Station in South Charleston.
The free public program will feature wagon tours of the station’s research plots and talks on field-crop issues — including weed, pest and disease control and dealing with high fertilizer costs — by Ohio State scientists and specialists.

Find the station at 7639 South Charleston Pike, just south of Interstate 70 on State Route 41 between Springfield and South Charleston in Clark County.

For more information, contact Harold Watters, (937) 484-1526, watters.35@osu.edu; or Joe Davlin, (937) 462-8016, davlin.1@osu.edu.

Certified Crop Advisor continuing-education units are available for attending. Free refreshments will be provided.

Ohio State University Extension and the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), of which the station is a part, are the sponsors.

The presentations:

• “Weed Control Issues for 2008” by Mark Loux, Horticulture and Crop Science, OARDC and OSU Extension.

• “Nitrogen Management in a Global Economy,” Robert Mullen, School of Environment and Natural Resources, OARDC and OSU Extension.

• “Corn Disease Management,” Pierce Paul, Plant Pathology, OARDC and OSU Extension.

• “Current and Future Corn Insect Concerns,” Andy Michel, Entomology, OARDC and OSU Extension.

• “Pumpkin and Sweet Corn Production,” Bob Precheur, Horticulture and Crop Science, OARDC and OSU Extension, and Jim Jasinski, IPM Program, OSU Extension.

Earlier in the day will be a public dedication ceremony for the station’s new field-office building, 10 a.m.-noon.

OARDC and OSU Extension are the research and outreach arms, respectively, of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Ohio Sheep Day Set for July 12

The Ohio Sheep Day program is designed to bring producers to a successful sheep production farm to see what they are doing to be successful and deliver good technical information to the sheep producers in a field day scenario. Producers need to be able to see and possibly experience many of the things that make their production systems more efficient and even more profitable.

Ohio Sheep Day will take place at the farm of Curt and Wendy Cline in Albany from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 12.

Hopefully, the sheep producers can come to this program and get some great ideas about Sheep nutrition, sheep management systems as well as many other areas of sheep production. The program will focus on several areas
of sheep production from sheep nutrition to ram breeding evaluation to predator management.

We look forward to seeing many sheep producers at the Ohio Sheep Day; it will hopefully be a day of learning and gathering with other sheep friends. If you have any questions regarding Ohio Sheep Day activities, please contact Roger A. High at (614) 292-0589 or by Email at high.1@osu,edu.

A lamb luncheon is included as part as registration for the Ohio Sheep Day event.

Ohio Crop Progress Report as of June 29, 2008

Reporters rated 3.4 days suitable for fieldwork during the seven-day period
ending Friday, June 27, 2008. Topsoil moisture was rated 0 percent very
short, 2 percent short, 53 percent adequate, and 45 percent surplus.

As of Sunday June 29 winter wheat ripe was 14 percent, down 47 points from
last year and 15 points below the five-year average. Soybeans blooming were
at 3 percent, 9 days behind last year and 7 days behind the five-year
average. Oats headed were at 94 percent, which was five days behind last
year, but four days ahead of the five-year average. Oats ripe were at 2
percent, which was 2 points behind last year and 1 point behind the five-year
average. Eighty-nine percent of the cucumber acreage was planted, compared
to 91 percent last year and 78 percent for the five-year average.
Strawberries harvested were at 87 percent, compared to 95 percent last year
and 91 percent for the five-year average.

The first cutting of alfalfa hay was reported at 93 percent, compared to 100
percent last year and 92 percent for the five-year average. The alfalfa hay
second cutting was reported at 15 percent, 21 percentage points behind last
year and 4 percentage points behind the five-year average. Eighty-one
percent of the other hay first cutting was complete, compared to 100 percent
last year and 85 percent for the five-year average. The second cutting of
other hay was reported at 5 percent, compared to 22 percent last year and 10
percent for the five-year average.

CROP AND LIVESTOCK CONDITION
Corn condition was rated at 71 percent in fair-to-good condition, down 5
percentage points from last week. Hay condition was rated at 75 percent in
fair-to-good condition, unchanged from last week. Eighty-two percent of the
livestock were in fair-to-good condition, down 1 percentage point from last
week. Oats condition was rated at 81 percent in fair-to-good condition,
compared to 79 percentage points last week. Pasture condition was rated at
77 percent in fair-to-good condition, down 2 percentage points from last
week. Soybeans condition was rated at 72 percent in fair-to-good condition,
down 6 percentage points from last week. Seventy-one percent of the winter
wheat acreage was rated in fair-to-good condition, down 2 percentage points
from last week.

Planted Acreage Exceeds Expectations
Reported by Farm Progress

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's June grain stocks and acreage reports revealed larger numbers than generally expected. Current estimates were negative for corn prices but provided some support for soybean prices.

"Taken together, the USDA reports were negative for corn prices," said Darrel Good, University of Illinois extension economist. "With a slowdown in corn use already happening, year-end stocks will likely be at least 100 million bushels larger than the 1.433 billion bushels projected by USDA earlier in the month. In addition, the acreage estimate suggests that less rationing will be needed next year, although stock levels will still likely decline during the 2008-09 marketing year."

For soybeans, production may fall short of the 3.1 billion bushels USDA projected earlier in the year, keeping stocks extremely tight for another year. Only 306 million bushels of wheat were in storage at the beginning of June, down 33% from a year ago and the lowest since 1949.

"Corn use during the summer quarter will be impacted by the rate of liquidation of animal numbers, which has been extremely modest to date, and the rate of wheat feeding, which should be substantial. Use for the year may fall short of the USDA projection of 6.15 billion bushels," Good said.

Widespread flooding is expected to result in more abandoned acres or, perhaps, more acres harvested for silage. Yield potential is difficult to predict, but based on improving weather, a benign weather forecast for July and improving crop condition ratings, potential yield is likely to be at or above USDA's June assessment of 148.9 bushels. The 2008 production potential may be between 11.8 billion and 12.0 billion bushels, Good said.

Yield potential also is still very uncertain due to late planting in many areas. Favorable summer growing conditions that extend well into September could result in a U.S. average yield near the trend of 42 bushels, producing a crop of more than 3 billion bushels. In general, however, the trade is probably skeptical that a trend yield in soybeans can be attained, Good said.

U.S. Hog Inventory Surprises Analysts
Reported by Farm Progress

USDA's Hogs and Pigs Report that was released Friday caught folks by surprise with a much larger inventory than expected. Despite the fact that many hog producers are losing substantial amounts of money per head, USDA livestock analyst Shayle Shagam says that as of June 1 the hog sector was very much in an expansionary mode.

The report showed the spring quarter pig crop up 4% from last year, total hog and pig inventory up 6% and sows farrowing from March to May were up 2%. Numbers indicate producers are cutting back on farrowing 2% this summer and 4% this fall, but Shagam says some tough decisions lay ahead.

"Those farmers who are producing both corn and hogs may decide there is more money to be made selling the hogs now and selling the corn at harvest," Shagam says. "Those are decisions that some producers are going to be able to make, other ones who are strictly hog producers and buy their inputs obviously are going to have to make their decisions based on a different set of factors which is how much can you get for your hogs now versus how much are you going to have to pay for corn."

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>>>