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by Susie Taylor

Retail sale of raw milk garnered quite a bit of discussion during the policy sessions at the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s 84^th annual meeting held in Cincinnati Dec. 4 to 6.

A proposed policy to allow marketing and sale of raw milk to the public directly from the farm was turned down by delegates, but the issue came back before the delegate body in another motion and was approved.

The official wording of the new policy is:

"We support the licensing of additional raw milk retailers in Ohio, providing the same opportunities and restrictions as those grandfathered in on Oct. 31, 1965. They should follow the same inspections and restrictions as found in the Ohio Revised Code."

Concerns by delegates about liability were addressed by stating the new retail locations would follow Health Department regulations.

The delegate body turned down a proposed policy that would require those regulating large livestock operations to consider U.S. citizenship in the permitting process for those operations.

Education was also on the mind of delegates. A change in current policy states: "We urge all organizations to work together where possible in developing positive agricultural/environmental literacy programs for youth and adults. We also encourage the development of materials and the necessary support to mandate the integration of agricultural/environmental concepts into K-12 grade instruction."

Delegates debated the change to mandate the integration of agricultural education. Previously, the word "ensure" had been used.

A new policy was passed encouraging the Ohio Department of Education to re-evaluate school building funding policies that encourage abandoning buildings and constructing new facilities in rural areas.

An issue on stricter enforcement of the 25 mph speed limit for vehicles displaying an SMV emblem was tabled to give state staff more time to study the issue.

Tax related policy included encouraging the "State of Ohio to conduct a study to determine if tax abatements actually pay for themselves and are a valid way to encourage business growth."

CAUV and forested lands were addressed with the addition of: "We support legislation that would require forest-only parcels of land to have a forest management plan to qualify for CAUV. The plans need to be written by either a state forester or private lands forester."

All-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles are traditionally discussed during the annual policy session. A proposal this year to license ATVs and snowmobiles was turned down.

The policy session moved rather smoothly with the use of computers to display proposed policies to all delegates so changes could easily be read. "This is the second year we’ve used this system and it worked extremely well," according to Deering Dyer, OFBF director of political education. "The entire process worked well. We got some great direction from our members with this policy document. We’ve got a lot to work on during this program year."