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21 Ohio farmers meet Johanns, see political process first-hand on Key Farmer trip

by Amy Beth Graves

Ohio farmer Mike Johanns couldn't resist showing his nametag to the secretary of agriculture's aide during Ohio Farm Bureau's Key Farmer trip. Little did he know that it would be his ticket to meeting agriculture's top government official.

"Secretary Johanns meet Mike Johanns," a government official said as he introduced the two. The meeting took place after Secretary Johanns signed a proclamation declaring the week of Jan. 29 to Feb. 4 as Food Check-Out Week. Ohioan Johanns and 20 other farmers, who were in the USDA building, were invited to watch the signing and listen to the ag secretary talk about the importance of having abundant, affordable and safe food.

The meeting with the ag secretary took place during Ohio Farm Bureau's second Key Farmer trip, which teaches farmers about public policy development and implementation and how it impacts the agriculture industry. OFBF county leaders invited the farmers to go on the information trip, based on their contributions to agriculture.

The two Johanns talked about their family background, and the Ohio farmer said he would have to do a bit more checking before determining if the two were related. For Johanns of Paulding County in northwest Ohio, the meeting with the ag secretary was the highlight of his trip to Washington, D.C.

Ron Leopold of Putnam County also was thrilled to have the chance to talk with the ag secretary. Supporting Johanns' call for closing some Farm Service Agency offices nationwide, Leopold told the ag secretary that it was no trouble for him to drive an extra few minutes to the next nearest FSA office. The Putnam County man pulled a Jan. 9 Wall Street Journal article about Brazil's ethanol industry out of his suit pocket as he expressed his concern that the United States is too reliant on imported oil and needs to invest more in ethanol.

"It made my trip," Leopold said of talking to Johanns. "I was prepared to talk to the agriculture secretary but I never dreamed that I'd actually get to."

Also during their three-day trip to Washington in February, the group visited the headquarters of the American Farm Bureau Federation where they learned about some of AFBF's most pressing issues: energy, eminent domain, immigration reform and the death tax.

"The inherent grassroots nature of our organization is our strength," Mark Maslyn, AFBF executive director of public policy, told the group.

Paul Schlegel of AFBF said immigration reform is a "critical issue for agriculture." Schlegel said a new AFBF report shows that without an adequate work force, the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry stands to lose between $5 billion and $9 billion a year to overseas competitors.

"Agriculture needs the labor to harvest the products," he said. "We need to have willing workers to do the jobs that Americans don't want to."

Calling herself a "pot stirrer," Fran Freeman of the Australian Embassy talked about how other countries view the U.S. agriculture industry when it comes to international trade. She said her country applauded the United States' proposal last year to cut domestic ag support in return for substantial market access.

"With the World Trade Organization, you've got to give something to get something," she said during a panel discussion that included Jon Doggett of the National Corn Growers Association. He warned that environmentalists are becoming more aggressive in getting their message across with lawmakers. He said that when Congress was considering the Water Resources Development Act, his group sent 1,000 letters of support in three days; the National Audubon Society sent 20,000 in just one day.

Mike Sommers, a White House agriculture aide, also said environmental groups have been knocking on his door a lot lately. He talked about the recent World Trade Organization talks and said the next Farm Bill will have to be significantly different than the current one. The key is to open up world markets for agriculture, he said.

"We can either negotiate and seek to open other markets or we can have our farm program taken apart piece by piece in WTO litigation," he said.

Members of the Ohio Corn Growers Association, who were in Washington for a lobbying trip, joined the Ohio farmers during two sessions. OFBF Executive Vice President Jack Fisher and OFBF First Vice President Jeff Zellers broke away from the group briefly to talk to Ohio's two senators about their concerns with proposed legislation to reform the nation's immigration laws.

On Feb. 2, the group talked with one of U.S. Rep. John Boehner's aides at the same time that the Ohio representative was making his pitch to be the House majority leader.

Neal Bond of Clinton County said he was skeptical before he went on the trip about how much one Ohio farmer's opinion would matter in Washington.

"But after going through the process and meeting people, I think a person can make a difference – it depends how much you put into it," he said. "This trip has given me a better appreciation of what Farm Bureau does. I'll probably pay more attention."

Caption: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns shakes hands with Ohio farmer Mike Johanns.