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Rob Westmoreland, executive vice president of Sparks Companies, gave more than 320 members an overview of the "Macroeconomic Perspectives on Agriculture: Key Alternative Policy Options" study commissioned by Ohio Farm Bureau.

In his seminar, Westmoreland shared the study's results on the following issues:

Farm Policy
The study recommended that OFBF favor policies that look at agriculture funding as a long-term investment rather than a short-term expense.

Trade Policy
Some strategies suggested support policies for regional trade and/or multilateral agreements like NAFTA or the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas. Trade promotion authority for the president, including China in the World Trade Organization and supporting trade promotion and export marketing programs were also mentioned.

Monetary Policy
The strong value of the U.S. dollar also impacts agricultural trade negatively. Sparks focused on looking for alternatives to manage exchange rate volatility.

Energy and Ethanol Policy
Although U.S. farmers have lower energy costs than most of their competitors, there still needs to be work done to continue to decrease the amount of money producers spend on energy and maintain our competitive advantage. The study emphasized the need for a national energy policy.

Regulatory Environment
The study suggests:

• "Encourage sound scientific practices and economic returns, …

• "Follow an all-inclusive economic/social cost benefit analysis, …

• "Demand similar food safety standards for imported food."

Farm Labor Supply
The Sparks report suggests OFBF work to create workable "guest worker" programs. Immigration not only increases the labor pool but also increases the number of consumers buying U.S. agricultural products.

Food and Agriculture Concentration
The Sparks report suggests OFBF develop programs that help producers become specialized or "niche players" and facilitate development of farmer-industry alliances.