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by Jack Fisher, OFBF executive vice president

My predecessor in this job, Bill Swank, had a lot of great "one-liners." One of my favorites dealt with what people think about farmers. I heard Bill say once, "The public loves farmers; they just don't like agriculture."

What Bill was saying is that while most people have a built-in respect for the people who live on the land, at the same time they're a little nervous about the things they do on the farm.

Their concerns show up time and time again when public opinion polls are taken. Asked how they describe farmers, people use words like "honest," "hardworking" or "committed."

But when asked about things like manure or pesticides, their responses aren't quite as favorable.

That's why Ohio Farm Bureau is working to get another word to come to mind when the public describes farmers. We want them to think of you as "sensitive."

Now, I'll be the first to admit that "sensitive" doesn't exactly fit the industrious, independent laborer/manager image that most farmers proudly (and rightfully) have of themselves. But whether or not you like the word, the simple truth is that if you want to continue to farm virtually next door to the 11 1/2 million people living in Ohio, you have to be sensitive to public perceptions.

Keeping those neighbors happy while keeping you financially viable is the reason we formed the Agricultural Ecology Department here at Ohio Farm Bureau. This department deals with the economic, social and environmental issues that impact farmers and their customers every day.

At the department’s launch in October 2000, I made this point: Good will has become as important as good weather, and if we want farming to remain commercially viable in Ohio, we must enhance the public's confidence and comfort with what we do on the farm.

Apparently a lot of you agree. Since the department began, over 11,000 Farm Bureau members have gotten involved in one agricultural ecology project or another.

Some of you participated in our recent "NeighborConnections" tours around Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati where farmers, landowners, developers and government officials examined both the problems and opportunities that arise when cities grow into surrounding rural areas. Others have taken our AWARE (Agricultural Watershed Awareness and Resource Education) training. This teaches farmers how to accurately measure the quality of their surface water so they can demonstrate agriculture’s positive impact on the environment. Still others have taken spokesperson training in order to speak out about agriculture’ s benefits. Additional members have studied our resource materials on combining profitable farming with environmental protection. Some took advantage of our sessions on understanding and benefiting from the new farm bill. And some of you have participated in sessions to develop conflict-management skills.

It’s also worth noting that our agricultural ecology efforts aren’t focused only on providing farmers with useful information. We’re also reaching out to the nonfarm public and government agencies to help them better understand how modern agriculture works and why they should be comfortable with what we do on the farm.

The fact that so many of you have "bought into" our agricultural ecology efforts is exciting. I know how easy it would be to just ignore Ohio’s changing landscape, to dismiss the public’s concerns and just go about your business. But that’s not the way Farm Bureau members behave. We face reality and then figure out how to deal with it.

The reality is that we have to be sensitive to what the public expects of us.

As for dealing with it, Farm Bureau’s job is twofold: Help the public establish realistic expectations, then help farmers profit while meeting those expectations.