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I think it was Mark Twain who once said, "It’s a good thing we don’t get all the government we pay for."

I imagine Twain was only half kidding, because for most farmers, the government ranks right up there with low prices and bad weather as some of our favorite things to grumble about. But even those who are the most skeptical about the value of government will admit that sometimes, good government can be a good thing. And when it is, it deserves our support.

Such is the case with the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA). There’s a very good chance ODA is going to need our support when the budget ax starts to fly, and fly it will in the not too distant future. The state is looking at a $3 billion to $5 billion shortfall for the next biennium. That’s a bunch of money. So the Taft administration and the General Assembly will have their hands full figuring out how to make ends meet. They’ll have to make what will no doubt be some very tough choices. It will be up to those of us in agriculture to make sure the politicians know that the money they put into ODA is well spent.

The state agriculture department’s share of the current two-year state budget is around $70 million, less than two-tenths of 1 percent of Ohio’s total $42 billion budget. Ninety-six percent of ODA’s money goes toward regulatory oversight. But we often don’t even think about the important jobs the department is doing.

For grain farmers in the past fiscal year, ODA performed nearly 600 examinations of Ohio’s elevators, making sure your stored grain was there, and the warehouses had the funds to cover your merchandizing agreements. It issued more than 30,000 pesticide applicator licenses and registered more than 11,000 pesticide products. It conducted sampling and quality testing for the 3.7 million tons of fertilizer and lime distributed in the state.

ODA was just as busy with the livestock industry. It made sure livestock and other scales were accurate by doing more than 4,000 inspections. More than 600,000 animal disease tests were done to protect herds and flocks from foot-and-mouth, brucellosis, pseudorabies, West Nile Virus, salmonella and other costly pathogens. More than 5,300 dairy farm, processor and handler inspections were completed. Samples were examined from the 3.5 million tons of commercial feed distributed in Ohio. And tremendous work was done to formulate and implement the new standards for large livestock farms in our state.

Consumers, too, benefited from ODA’s work. The Consumer Analytical Laboratory conducted more than 103,000 tests aimed at maintaining food safety. ODA worked with all of Ohio’s 142 local health departments on examination and licensing of food wholesalers, processors and retailers. At Ohio’s nearly 300 packing and processing plants, ODA inspectors assured us of safe, wholesome meat. ODA even handled inspections and licensing for 2,040 amusement rides at parks and fairs.

And in the past year, ODA has taken on new duties to benefit farmers and consumers. ODA accepted a lead role in protecting Ohio from bioterrorism. As a member of the Ohio Security Task Force, the Department of Agriculture worked to prevent livestock, food and water from being targets for biological attacks.

Yet one other job ODA fulfills isn’t as visible as its regulatory and promotional duties but it’s certainly no less important. ODA is agriculture’s advocate with the governor, and having that advocate is essential to our industry’s well-being. The governor’s cabinet includes 23 directors of various departments. Beyond those, there are hundreds of different agencies, boards and commissions, each representing special interests and constituencies. And the leaders of each have their ideas on how state government should act and how its resources should be allocated. It is crucial that agriculture have a seat at the governor’s table, constantly and consistently speaking on behalf of the state’s largest industry.

Filling that seat for more than 12 years has been Fred Dailey. Ohio has been fortunate to have this extremely accomplished spokesman within the inner circle of both Governors Voinovich and Taft. Dailey understands how farming’s interests mesh with consumers’ interests, and he’s effectively helped the governors and their aides recognize agriculture as one of Ohio’s most valuable assets.

In the next few months, when state government gets about the business of cutting expenses, it will be our job to demonstrate why sufficient funding for the Ohio Department of Agriculture is in the best interest of all Ohioans. The bottom line is this: Consumers trust farmers, but they also want verification that their trust is merited. ODA provides the assurance that our customers can indeed have confidence in what we produce and how we produce it.