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by Seth Teter and Joe Cornely

For two days, more than 330 delegates at the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) annual meeting poured over the organization's policy positions on a multitude of state and national topics. In the end, they voted to adopt new policies on several issues certain to impact agriculture in the coming year.

Eminent Domain

It should come as no surprise that private property rights were an issue of concern for delegates after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that local governments could take property from one citizen and hand it over to another for economic development.

Delegates voted to clarify the organization's stance on the issue saying that it opposes "the use of eminent domain to take private property for the purpose of other private development." In the coming year, OFBF plans to play an active role in the state’s eminent domain task force, which will look to clarify and propose rewriting portions of Ohio law. More details on the eminent domain issue are in the legislative outlook story on page 2.

Delegates also approved changes to wording regarding OFBF's stance on the farm bill. References to specific safety net programs such as LDPs and countercyclical payments were deleted from policy. In return, a line was added that more generically states that the farm bill should "provide a safety net and risk management program for program crops."

"We approved this more flexible policy position for a couple reasons," said Adam Sharp, OFBF director of national affairs. "This policy change will give AFBF the flexibility to negotiate new farm policy and consider many viable safety net options that may be proposed."

He added that the wording would also give Farm Bureau flexibility during World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

"We don't want to create a bill simply to please the WTO," Sharp said. "What we do need is a trade agreement that will give us more market access and is defensible against WTO challenges."

Members also voted in favor of new policy that calls for differentiation between various types of drainage waterways and recognizes the responsibilities of landowners and developers to maintain adequate drainage.

Larry Gearhardt, OFBF director of local affairs, said the updated policy also will help OFBF identify allies to address drainage problems facing Ohio.

"Our goal is to eventually get some concrete revisions to the drainage law that will help us fix these drainage issues," he said.

Policy additions included recommending that county governments adopt effective drainage regulations and that Ohio establish a task force to review the petition ditch law.

Delegates expressed concerns with a part of the package of tax reforms enacted this past summer by the Ohio General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Bob Taft. Delegates voiced objections to the commercial activity tax (CAT), which taxes businesses on gross receipts. Farmers, who often experience low profit margins, "are philosophically opposed to having to pay a tax in years when there’s no profit," according to Keith Stimpert, OFBF’s vice president of government affairs. "They just feel it’s wrong to have a tax that doesn’t consider a business’s ability to pay." Delegates voted to pursue an alternative to the CAT when the next biennial budget is written in 2007.

• Supporting legislation that keeps funds intended for the grain indemnity fund from being diverted into state general revenue funds.
• Encouraging the Ohio Division of Natural Resources to establish two-tier pricing for deer tags with a lower price charged for does.
• Supporting a longwall mining policy that returns residences and agricultural buildings to pre-mining conditions.
• Encouraging increased access to high speed Internet connections in rural areas.
• Opposing isolationist behavior by U.S. consumers and special interest groups that harms agriculture.