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by Seth Teter

Compared to a more than $10 billion tax bill, a Farm Bureau membership looks like a pretty good deal.

And while Butler County Farm Bureau member Jean Butterfield may not have been thinking in the billions back in 1973, she knew first-hand that farmers were in danger of being taxed off of their land.

"It was so hard to meet the expenses, pay the mortgage," she said of life on the farm she and her husband bought just outside of Oxford in the 1950s.

More than 30 years ago, Butterfield, her Contreras Road advisory council and the county Farm Bureau joined a statewide grassroots movement to help enact State Issue 1, which eventually became the Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) program. In 2005 alone, CAUV saved Ohio farmers $11 billion in taxes by assessing land based on its agricultural, rather than development, value.

Not only had the Butler County Farm Bureau submitted a policy resolution supporting State Issue 1, it had raised more than $3,000 to promote the issue, including $300 to advertise in the local paper. Even a long-time employee of the Butler County auditor's office recalls that the grassroots support of the local Farm Bureau helped move the issue forward. No doubt similar efforts were underway in county Farm Bureaus across the state.

While Butterfield, 84, can't recall all of the details surrounding the passage of CAUV, she praised the efforts of OFBF's legislative staff, which she said worked passionately to represent farmers. She also spoke highly of the fellow members of her advisory council, which is believed to have drafted the policy supporting CAUV.

Through the advisory council program "we could have a voice and make recommendations to hopefully improve farmers' chances to succeed and have our occupation understood by others," Butterfield said.

Today, OFBF has more than 700 advisory councils, which meet regularly to discuss issues and submit policies for the organization to consider. It also receives suggestions from county Farm Bureaus and a statewide policy development committee.

"The Farm Bureau policy development process truly enables us to be the grassroots organization that we always brag that we are," said OFBF Director of Policy Development Chris Henney.

Henney said that it would be difficult to put a price on the value of Farm Bureau membership.

"We have a staff of experts in a wide variety of areas working every day to represent the interests of farmers. As we work on issues as important as protecting personal property rights and maintaining CAUV, the cost of Farm Bureau membership is really a bargain," he said.

But he was quick to point out that Farm Bureau's strength comes from its members.

"Not only do we have numbers, but we have a lot of great volunteers that are willing to speak up locally and meet with lawmakers," he said. "We have a lot of clout when we have members that are unified in one voice."

Caption: Former Butler County Farm Bureau Lady Trustee Jean Butterfield, l, talks with Organization Director Katie Grove.