Ohio Farm Bureau recognizes county Innovation, Collaboration winners

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Lynn Snyder

The Ohio Farm Bureau Innovation and Collaboration Awards highlight county Farm Bureaus for their implementation of new and innovative programs within their communities and the teamwork required to make those efforts successful. Counties that received Innovation Awards earned $1,500, and winners of the Collaboration Awards were given $4,000 to be divided evenly among each of the counties involved. Award winners also were honored at the 2021 Ohio Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.

“Our counties are best at serving members by focusing on valued programing, networking, philanthropy and grassroots advocacy,” said Paul Lyons, vice president of membership with Ohio Farm Bureau. “These Innovation and Collaboration Awards are an opportunity for the Ohio Farm Bureau to recognize counties for the value they bring to their members through these excellent county programs.”

2021 Innovation Award winners

Belmont: Sponsored Annual Meeting

Belmont County Farm Bureau wanted a way to provide a free, high quality annual meeting to all of its members. The board of trustees decided to ask for sponsorship from business partners and group membership participants within the county to see if the funding could be secured for this event. Three levels of sponsorships were set, with higher sponsor levels receiving more exposure at the meeting; each level of sponsorship received two complimentary tickets. The fundraising goal was exceeded, and members enjoyed a fully sponsored annual meeting at no cost for them to attend.

Crawford: Farm Safety

After several close call incidents involving farm equipment in the county, Crawford County Farm Bureau recognized that something was needed to help protect farmers and others traveling through areas with farm traffic. The county Farm Bureau along with a local Nationwide agency partnered to produce farm safety yard signs. The signs said ‘Share the road with farmers and farm equipment’ and displayed the county Farm Bureau logo and the agency partner logo. Volunteers distributed 50 yard signs in the spring to help create awareness of farm equipment on the road and had a goal to distribute 50 more before fall harvest.

Hocking: Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience

Youth Cooperative Leadership Experience is an online program that inspires students to discover and explore careers in agricultural cooperatives. The project is a partnership between Hocking County Farm Bureau and the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Center for Cooperatives. The program was made possible through a Youth Pathways Grant from Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation. The online curriculum includes co-op tours and talks with Heritage Cooperative, Nationwide and Casa Nueva, along with video interviews featuring farmer leaders. A full curriculum of cooperative education is available to educators to put to use on student-run farms. Learners can use their new knowledge to start their own co-op or worker-owned business.

Pickaway: Pickaway County Buyers Club 

Youth fair exhibitors put time, money and effort into raising and working with their market animals. They learn animal husbandry, production, marketing and invaluable leadership skills. To reward those efforts, the Pickaway County Buyers Club, a group of local businesses, organizations and individuals, pooled funds to purchase livestock projects at the Pickaway County Junior Fair Sale. Founded by Pickaway County Farm Bureau trustees, the club continues to grow in number of participants and dollars raised, resulting in an increased positive impact on local youth and the community. In 2021, 71 Pickaway County Buyers Club donors raised a total of $36,834 and purchased 65 livestock projects plus 18 add-ons at the Junior Fair Sale.

Pike: Let’s Get Popping 

To keep Farm Bureau volunteers engaged throughout a time when public activities and events were limited, Pike County Farm Bureau got creative. Farm Bureau decided to work with local members and partnered to create a Pike County Farm Bureau kettle corn flavor, “Harvest Mix.” The board of trustees came up with the name and the unique flavors along with the colors so it would represent harvest time: green to represent the crops, yellow for the sun and brown to signify the soil. The special mix includes caramel, vanilla and classic kettle corn flavors. Poppin’ Jessie, a local Farm Bureau member, pops the kettle corn grown by fellow members, Corcoran Farms. Rural King, who is a group member, sells the kettle corn in five different locations throughout southern Ohio.

Union: Farm Bureau Day at Rural King

With many changing aspects in Farm Bureau today, Union County Farm Bureau worked to create a way to garner attention within the community, connect potential Farm Bureau members with the organization and increase engagement through a better consumer outreach plan. With those goals in mind, the county organization held the 1st Annual Farm Bureau Day at Rural King, where volunteers served free water and cookies and had hourly drawings for a gift card giveaway. Throughout the day, shoppers of Rural King were introduced to Farm Bureau, learned about the value of being a member and were asked to join. This event also allowed Farm Bureau volunteers to give updates to current members about what Farm Bureau is doing at the county, state and national levels.

Wayne: Land Use Planning for the Future of Our County

Wayne County Farm Bureau’s involvement in the countywide Land Use Actions for the Future of Our County project stemmed from two local policies Farm Bureau generated that addressed land use. The county government updated its comprehensive plan in 2019 following a period of feedback from the community, including a listening session organized by the county Farm Bureau. A workshop was put together in 2020 to help catalyze action of the new plan around balanced land use, including agriculture’s concerns. The workshop took place over four brown bag seminars which drew 50 to 80 participants to each session. The attendees included a diverse group of Farm Bureau members and community stakeholders. Overall, the feedback received suggests there is interest in continuing these discussions to engage stakeholders and develop shared solutions to the county’s biggest land use challenges.

Wood: Hop Around Wood County 

Wood County’s beer and wine tasting event was created to increase Farm Bureau awareness and encourage networking and opportunities for potential new members in the future. The event put a spotlight on several local crafters of beer and wine and allowed them to explain the brewing/wine making process, share about the local ingredients that go into their products and allow attendees to make connections for future support of those businesses. More than $3,900 was raised from the event to fund the county Farm Bureau 2022 scholarship fund.

2021 Collaboration Award winners

Allen, Paulding, Putnam and Van Wert Counties: Grain Bin Safety

In 2019, a grain bin accident impacted several lives in a nearby county. After hearing the details of the accident and that it could have been prevented, Allen, Paulding, Putnam and Van Wert County Farm Bureaus joined together to create a safety and rescue program geared toward first responders, cooperative employees and farmers. The program, drawing over 100 people, kicked off with a session that covered how grain entrapments start, how they can be prevented and went into detail of how first responders should handle these types of calls. After the session, the first responders and cooperative employees got a chance to practice how to rescue entrapped victims and how to correctly cut a grain bin. This program was able to meet farmer participants’ workers’ compensation safety training hours requirement as well as continuing education hours for the first responders.

Ashland, Medina and Wayne Counties: Ag Toy Drive

Young farmer groups in neighboring Ashland, Medina and Wayne counties came together in a rallying response to a community need. This project supported area children in a unique way while still featuring agriculture. The need by the local Toys for Tots was estimated to increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and toy donations were unknown as Toys for Tots’ staunch supporters in the past were struggling with labor shortages, shutdowns and supply chain challenges. The Ag Toy Drive program was completed in December 2020 and resulted in a total of $8,048 in agricultural-themed toys being donated to charities across a multicounty area. Sixty-five Farm Bureau volunteers executed the planning, fundraising, pre and post event media campaigns, event execution and toy shopping and delivery. This event was able to “give the gift of agriculture” to 402 families through providing them with an agricultural-themed gift for Christmas.

Jackson-Vinton, Pike and Scioto Counties: Virtual Agriculture Day

Prior to the pandemic, the counties conducted Agriculture Awareness Days, a field trip designed for third, fourth and fifth graders. Due to COVID-19, field trips were not permitted by schools, so the county boards of Jackson-Vinton, Pike and Scioto County Farm Bureaus got together and planned a Virtual Agriculture Day, creating an interactive online event. OSU Extension, Soil and Water Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 4-H members and FFA students were involved, as well as local farmers and leaders representing all aspects of agriculture in each of the counties. Every participant recorded a two to five minute video on their own farms showing, firsthand, what they do every day. Over 60 videos were posted to YouTube and shared with teachers and their students to enjoy in the classroom or, for many, in the cafeteria and/or gym as a group at the end of a school fun day.

Ohio Farm Bureau’s mission is working together for Ohio farmers to advance agriculture and strengthen our communities. Learn more at ohiofarmbureau.org.

This is a news release for use by journalists. Questions should be directed to Ty Higgins, 614-246-8231 or [email protected].

Imperfect infrastructure bill provides important investments for agriculture

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Ty Higgins

Despite being held up for months over political maneuvering, the House of Representatives recently passed the long-awaited Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The legislation contains investments in traditional infrastructure that will  benefit farmers and rural communities.

“Our nation’s infrastructure gives America’s farmers and ranchers a competitive advantage and helps us move products from fields to consumers around the world,” said American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall. “These investments will ensure we continue to safely and efficiently transport the agricultural and food products that our nation and the world rely on.”

Nearly half of the bridges in the United States are over 50 years old, and every day in the United States, Americans make 178 million trips across structurally deficient bridges. Over $110 billion of this bill will be dedicated to roads and bridges, including Cincinnati’s Brent Spence Bridge that connects Ohio to Kentucky.

Water infrastructure also will be getting some attention, with some $17.3 billion to enhance the mode of transportation for Ohio commerce.

“That’s so important, particularly for our grain farmers and all of the product that is moved down through our rivers out through the ports of New Orleans and other ports across the country,” said Brandon Kern, senior director of state and national policy for Ohio Farm Bureau. “Natural disasters have put quite a strain on the country’s waterway system, so reinvesting in this critical infrastructure is so important to our members.”

While most Americans take broadband for granted, 1 in 4 U.S. farms have no access to high-speed internet, a necessity to opportunities and essential services. That issue will be addressed with this funding as well.

“Through the pandemic it became very real to policymakers how serious the lack of broadband is as people worked from home, schools went virtual, and telehealth needs grew,” Kern said. “This package includes $65 billion for broadband development nationally that can be added to some of the advancements we have seen at the state level to continue that push to get more Ohioans connected to reliable broadband resources.”

Funding through this legislation also will augment Ohio’s water quality efforts as additional monies will be given to Great Lakes Restoration. Northwest Ohio has already seen a substantial amount of support in federal dollars for farmers to make improvements to land management practices, and with this bill they will continue to receive help for investments to keep Ohio water healthy.

Ag haulers also will benefit from the infrastructure bill as it continues an exemption to an “Hours of Operation” rule for the trucking industry, which was created with the health and safety of livestock being transported. That exemption was set to expire.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is one of the most comprehensive investments in America’s infrastructure in some time, and its framework and success has strong Ohio ties as both of the state’s U.S. Senators were very actively involved in putting this package together.

“Senator Portman really took the lead in the negotiation of this bill and, with the help of Senator Brown, got this bill to a place where it could garner bi-partisan support,” Kern said. “Ohio Farm Bureau shared the importance of the traditional aspects of an infrastructure bill and although there are certainly parts of it that don’t align with our priorities, we appreciate the work of all of our representatives to address those immediate issues impacting our members in this legislation.”

Farm Bureau names 2021 policy development committee

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Lynn Snyder

Twenty Ohio Farm Bureau leaders are serving on the 2021 Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Policy Development Committee. The committee collects and organizes public policy recommendations from county Farm Bureaus and presents the final policy suggestions to be voted on by Ohio Farm Bureau’s delegates during the state annual meeting in December.

In its initial session, the committee heard from government leaders, subject matter experts and Farm Bureau staff on topics such as carbon capture markets and climate policy, ethanol and biofuels, the supply chain, property rights associated with wind and solar siting and farmland preservation.

The policy committee consists of 10 members from Ohio Farm Bureau’s board of trustees and 10 representatives of county Farm Bureaus.

The committee is chaired by Ohio Farm Bureau First Vice President Cy Prettyman of New Bloomington and includes OFBF President Bill Patterson of Chesterland and Treasurer Lane Osswald of Eldorado. State trustees on the committee are Matt Aultman of Greenville, Roger Baker of Wooster, Karin Bright of Athens, Danielle Burch of Salem, Al Miller of Marietta, Kyle Smith of South Vienna and Chris Weaver of Lyons.

County Farm Bureau representatives are Ron Bond from Tuscarawas County, William Brown from Stark County, Joseph Everett from Shelby County, Sarah Ison from Clermont County, Bennett Musselman from Pickaway County, Eric Rife from Madison County, Logan Riker-Chamberlain from Wood County, Tracy Robinson from Pike County, Jeff Trick from Montgomery County and Jonathan Zucker from Marion County.

Ohio Farm Bureau’s mission is working together for Ohio farmers to advance agriculture and strengthen our communities. Learn more at ohiofarmbureau.org.

This is a news release for use by journalists. Questions should be directed to Ty Higgins, 614-246-8231 or [email protected].

Gifting as a tax management tool

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Lynn Snyder

By: Ryan Conklin, Wright & Moore Law Co., LPA

A few months ago we discussed the basics of tax basis and potential tax changes from pending legislation. With various bills and proposals making their way through Congress, it is an opportune time to examine one of the strategies that could mitigate adverse tax impacts.

Gifting is a common tool for estate planners and their clients. It provides a path to divestment of ownership of important assets like land or equipment so that income tax or estate tax concerns may be reduced or eliminated. To be a completed gift, the giving party must completely divest ownership, meaning no retained income or control, and the receiving party must accept through an affirmative act. Also, documenting the gift and its value in writing is strongly recommended. This paperwork might take the form of a gift declaration, transfer of LLC membership units, or the deed to a farm.

Gifts allowed per year

Current tax rules allow for one person to make as many $15,000 gifts to as many people per year. If gifts to a specific person exceed $15,000 for a particular year, the gifting party will need to file a gift tax return. By filing that gift tax return, the amount exceeding $15,000 is deducted from that individual’s estate tax exemption (currently $11.7 million). The favorable estate tax exemption level makes gifting a feasible tactic here, and any changes to that exemption number could make gifting more difficult.

Gifting drawbacks

One major drawback of gifting pertains to tax basis. While inherited assets receive a step-up in tax basis upon the death of the owner, gifted assets receive no such treatment. Instead, the recipient of the gift receives the tax basis of the gifting party. As a result, a future sale of gifted assets could carry a healthy tax bill.

Now, the passage of certain proposals, such as elimination of stepped-up basis, mandatory taxation of appreciated assets, or changes to gifting rules, could render this strategy obsolete. At that point the only effective estate planning tools may involve a complex scheme of trusts that would carry some drawbacks but would guard against a hefty tax bill.

Even as harvest gets into full gear, engaging your legal counsel to devise a “break in case of emergency” plan is advisable, especially with potential time limitations looming.

Wright & Moore Law Co., LPA has a rich heritage in Ohio agriculture. Since 1988, our firm has proudly assisted farmers, rural residents, and landowners from all over the state with their farm succession planning and agricultural legal needs. We would be happy to discuss your family goals and how to meet them. To learn more about Wright & Moore or schedule a meeting, call 740-990-0750 or visit OhioFarmLaw.com.

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