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Because the risks associated with farming are growing and changing, it makes sense to look for new ways to manage new risks. That’s the premise of a $150,000 partnership agreement between USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) and Mid American Ag and Hort Services (MAAHS.) "RMA provides the dollars and direction, and we do the risk management education in some creative ways," said John Wargowsky, OFBF’s director of labor services and executive director of MAAHS.

The $150,000 initiative will be targeted at specialty crop, nursery and horticultural and livestock producers, according to Wargowsky. He said the money will allow farmers to receive useful training while providing the government with an efficient and effective way of delivering risk management education to the farm community.

There are six individual risk management programs that RMA will fund. One is to assist fruit and vegetable growers in implementing food-safety practices that meet buyer demands. While citing the industry’s positive track record, Wargowsky cautioned, "We’re hearing more and more about food borne illnesses in produce. The marketplace today is demanding that we really raise the bar in this area."

Other projects funded by RMA include more education for employers to improve worker safety; marketing and human resource training for fruit and vegetable growers; an environmental self-assessment program for produce growers and a risk-management tie-in to overall efforts in the area of animal identification. One other project will fund human resource compliance training in Indiana. Several Indiana farm groups, including their state Farm Bureau, are partners in the MAAHS program.

Numerous groups will cooperate with MAAHS to deliver the training and education to farmers. Among the groups are OFBF, OSU Extension, Ohio Fruit Growers Society, Ohio Vegetable and Potato Growers Association, USDA RMA and member organizations of the Ohio Livestock Coalition.

For more information about the various programs, visit the MAAHS Web site by going to www.ofbf.org and clicking on featured links.