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by Susie Taylor

When it comes to rural conflicts, Ohio farmers are most concerned about development, environmental regulations, community preservation and infrastructure, according to a survey conducted by Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s (OFBF) agricultural ecology staff.

Other topics identified as serious concerns were annexation, water quality and on-lot sewage systems. The survey was conducted during OFBF’s annual meeting last November and reflect issues farmers are facing as more nonfarmers move to rural areas of the Buckeye State, according to Marilyn Baker, OFBF’s director of community alliances.

"We asked our county ag ecology chairs back in October to identify some areas of concern for rural Ohioans," Baker said. "They picked 18 issues. Then, based on a survey we did during our [OFBF] Annual Meeting, these seven areas were chosen as creating the most concern."

But the survey didn’t stop with just identifying concerns. Respondents were asked to prioritize methods of managing growth and identify those methods they wanted to learn more about. The top five methods, in order of priority, were farmland preservation, land-use planning, environmental regulations, zoning and urban development.

"We’re working to address those areas ourselves," Baker said of OFBF’s community alliances program. Two major activities are being organized in an effort to focus on the issues the survey brought forth.

"Farm Bureau is taking the lead in developing an educational program on managing community conflicts," Baker said. OFBF is working with Ohio State University Extension, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management.

The second activity will be a bus tour scheduled for mid-July that will focus on land-use conflicts. "We’re calling it ‘Land-Use Conflicts: The Neighbor Connection’ tour; we’ll be able to present some issues neighbors were able to resolve, and we’ll explore how land use decisions are made and what Farm Bureau members can do to positively impact the process." Look for more information about the tour in future issues of Buckeye Farm News.