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Carroll County Farm Bureau members wanted answers and asked for them during a meeting with their state representatives in March.

Rep. Andy Thompson and Sen. Frank Hoagland met with Farm Buraeu members during a legislative district committee meeting at Bluebird Farms. Increasingly, several members have expressed concerns about their oil and gas royalty payments. They’ve been frustrated about how difficult it is to read their royalty statement and question whether they have been properly paid.

Ohio Farm Bureau policy calls for a uniform royalty payment statement, which would make the process more transparent.

“Our members consistently tell us they feel there’s no real accountability to ensure the accuracy of what oil companies report they extract from the ground,” said Brandon Kern, OFBF’s senior director for policy outreach. “Landowners also become suspicious when oil companies constantly make credits and deductions to landowner royalty payments for corrections to well activity that took place months or even years in the past.”

Empowering Farm Bureau members to take focused, grassroots policy initiatives directly to lawmakers with the support of experienced staff helps achieve one of Farm Bureau’s priorities for 2017. OFBF wants to ensure energy lease and easement holders are provided information on project developments and advocacy in regulatory proceedings.

“This meeting is a great example of how Farm Bureau members are able to take action on member-adopted policy created through our policy development process,” said Kern. “Members now have an avenue for working with policymakers to initiate action on one of our organization’s priority issues.”

A working group will now be created to formulate specific legislative proposals to address Farm Bureau policy concerns.