By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Funding for OSU Extension in the counties, a bill to streamline government in the State of Ohio, even Lyme Disease, and ,of course, animal rights; these topics and more were up for discussion when Ohio Farm Bureau members gathered around the coffee pot at the start of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s (OFBF) Annual Meeting in Cincinnati.

“The big issue for all of agriculture is the animal welfare issue, the Animal Care Standards Board,” said Jerry Lahmers, Tuscarawas County.

“Essentially we’ve won the battle, but not the war,” said Eddie Lou Meimer, Morrow County. “I think they (HSUS) are going to have to weigh the 64 percent (of voters who voted yes on Issue 2) and see if we have educated the consumers to the point where it is not going to be worth spending $20 million on us.”

The situation in the livestock industry is a real challenge in both Lahmer’s and Meimer’s counties.

“We are a livestock county and one component is the dairy,” Meimers said. “That has been a major concern since early this year with the drop in prices. It probably won’t be addressed directly here at the meeting because it is a federal issue with the federal milk marketing orders but we can weigh in as to what we’d like D.C. to do and go from there.”

A unique problem that a Morrow County member asked Meimers to bring up at the meeting was Lyme disease. She had contracted the disease and because it was not diagnosed quickly she suffered from side effects and had to travel to Pennsylvania for treatment. Doctors in Ohio are not on top of the situation, this person said.
Also, Morrow and other counties need help keeping OSU Extension viable in their counties, Meimers said. They would like support from Farm Bureau on this.

“It looks like the counties are going to have to step up to the plate and fund it on a county level instead of by levies because the county commissioners are running out of money,” Meimers said.
Lahmers was concerned about the bill to reorganize government introduced by Ohio State Senator Tim Grendell (R-Dist. 18).

“The ODA would be broken up and part of it, the main focus of it would be under the Ohio EPA and consumer protection division,” Lahmers said. “My real concern is, here we have a department that is representing Ohio’s largest industry, representing consumer safety and we’re going to start spreading it around amongst different agencies. That is something I don’t think we can tolerate in agriculture.”

Lahmers said he enjoyed coming to the meetings because “Farm Bureau is a grassroots effort that we see. You don’t even have to be a delegate to have some influence; just talking to people and expressing your concern.

Gail Liehrer, Butler County Farm Bureau President, concurred.
“It is your voice in agriculture. You get to express what you think and how you feel and what your beliefs are. You get to see everybody, and it is always a good time.”