Applications for Ohio Farm Bureau Health Plans now available
Members have three ways to apply: contacting a certified agent, calling 833-468-4280 or visiting ohiofarmbureauhealthplans.org.
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Earlier this summer, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pegged the severity of the 2020 algal blooms on Lake Erie at a 4.5 on a scale of 10, one of the smaller forecasts in recent years. Final data to calculate the official bloom size won’t be released until later this year, but one researcher says the original guess will be close.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if that is an accurate forecast and that is good to hear,” said Chris Winslow, director of the Ohio State University’s Ohio Sea Grant College Program. “In a year of travel restrictions, it’s nice to be able to go to a lake, social distance and enjoy that resource.”
That is not to say that all of Lake Erie has been spared from algal blooms. According to Winslow, locations being impacted this year by relatively mild blooms are near the Maumee Bay and on the Michigan shoreline, due to the direction of the wind over the summer months.
Some of this year’s small bloom can be attributed to a drier weather pattern, keeping nutrients in place instead of being washed into the lake from wastewater treatment plants, septic systems and agricultural landscapes after heavy rainfalls. Progress in nutrient management by farmers is also a factor.
“I would say we have made a lot of progress from the agricultural front from one specific perspective and that is the best management practices,” Winslow said. “We are seeing a lot of great data from experiments on the usage of cover crops, tile drainage control structures, buffer strip placements and incorporation of fertilizer.”
With every day that goes by, research shows when one best management practice works and when it doesn’t and which landscapes are better suited for a particular BMP.
“The greatest progress we are seeing is being able to inform farmers which practices are best for them and their farm,” Winslow said. “To get to our goal of a 40% reduction rate of phosphorus entering Lake Erie, we need to have huge adoption rates across the watershed and we aren’t quite there yet.”
Winslow acknowledges that resources in the form of funding are a needed component for farmers to do additional practices for water quality. He said the response rate of farmers that want to be engaged in the H2Ohio initiative and other public private partnerships being formed across the state is a huge step in the right direction.
My first recommendation in your journey is to start out with a local farming friend or mentor along with joining an organization like Ohio Farm Bureau.
We’re just so thankful for the Farm Bureau and the foundation for helping put this together. And of course, the Boyert family for the vision they had with this grant. It’s jumping us forward 10 years. It’s unbelievable.
I could not have done it without the resources I have found through Farm Bureau.
It wasn’t until I joined the Wilmington College Collegiate Farm Bureau that I truly saw how my passion could translate into leadership, advocacy and a career.
The issue of property taxation remains as one of the biggest challenges our members face today. Ensuring agricultural property is valued for its agricultural potential and not development is critical to the continued success of Ohio agriculture.
Through the Select Partner program, we became educated in farm insurance and weren't just selling policies. It became more and more clear why farmers need an advocate like Ohio Farm Bureau.
So many of the issues that OFBF and its members are advocating for are important to all Ohioans. I look at OFBF as an agricultural watchdog advocating for farmers and rural communities across Ohio.
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