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In today’s world of higher prices for just about everything, we often find ourselves asking if we are truly getting what we pay for. But when it comes to your Ohio Farm Bureau membership, the value far exceeds the dues you pay.

To make my point, consider this your itemized receipt. Although we won’t be able to fit all of the benefits of being an Ohio Farm Bureau member on this one page, it will give you a better understanding of the importance of your membership and just how far your money goes to do exactly what our mission statement says: Working together for Ohio farmers to advance agriculture and strengthen our communities.

To start, our work to originally establish CAUV, and constantly defend it, has saved members across the state thousands of dollars, especially since recent adjustments have been made. Farm Bureau is currently leading efforts for additional landowner protections, including eminent domain reform through legislation that gives landowners the ability to adequately challenge the necessity of takings by eminent domain. We’ve also led the charge for state investment to identify and incentivize agriculture practices through the H2Ohio program to protect water quality, demonstrating the commitment farmers across Ohio have for clean water.

Whether you own a business, grow crops, raise livestock or have an interest in educating youth about the amazing opportunities Ohio agriculture offers in their future, Ohio Farm Bureau gets the job done. The results are easily seen in the form of key agriculture-related sales tax exemptions, preserving the use of critical crop protection products, pushing for investigations of volatility in livestock markets, and supporting 4-H and FFA programs through scholarships and our very own workforce development programs, respectively.

For over 100 years, there has been a need for a strong farm organization and that need is greater now than ever before as activists, regulators and legislators are feeling their oats amid a changing political environment. So far, Ohio Farm Bureau has thwarted their efforts to bring frivolous lawsuits upon farmers and their attempts to create rules and taxes that would be detrimental to Ohio farm families.

Many battles continue now with attempts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to prohibit the use of important pesticides, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposing a rule to require climate-related disclosures from family farms that work with publicly traded companies and, closer to home, a constant barrage of unwarranted attacks on animal agriculture by those who hide behind a cloak of advocating for water quality.

With all of that said, budgets are tightening as the cost for Farm Bureau to keep doing this work on your behalf has been climbing, even before the inflationary pressures that we are all seeing now. Despite those challenges, this organization is well run, financially sound and well positioned for the future. To maintain our strength, there will be a dues increase for the first time in nearly a decade.

These items, among countless other benefits, add up to the true value of your membership. The reason we have been successful for over a century isn’t because we are Ohio Farm Bureau, it is because you are a member of Ohio Farm Bureau. I thank you for your continued involvement as we work together, tirelessly, for the betterment of Ohio agriculture.