By VICKI JOHNSON
Ohio Correspondent

DELAWARE, Ohio — The Ohio Corn Growers Assoc. and Ohio Wheat Growers Assoc. (OWGA) have combined into one organization.

“We’ll have a stronger voice in Washington and at the Statehouse in Ohio for growers in Ohio,” said Natalie Lehner, communications director for the new Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Assoc. (OCWGA). “Combining them shows our solidarity.”

Lehner said the new association is continuing to look out for interests of grain growers. “We’ve been fighting for new markets and new uses for corn and wheat,” she said. “The highest priorities are really our ethanol infrastructure. We have ethanol. Now we need to get it to the communities where people can buy it.”

Export agreements are another issue right now, she said.

“And, we’re working with lawmakers on the farm bill,” she said. “And that whatever is decided on the estate tax is in the best interests of growers.”
Any producer who was a member of either group automatically became a member of the combined group, Lehner said.

“Some people think they’re automatically a member through checkoff dollars,” she said. “That’s not the case.”

The checkoff is a voluntary program that allows for the collection of a one-half cent per bushel assessment by all first purchasers of grain. Funds from the program, started on April 1, 1989, can be used only for research, market development, education and promotion purposes.

“We can’t lobby with checkoff dollars,” she said. “We use membership money for that and we go to Washington for our members.”

At the Ohio Grains Symposium in December, leaders from the two groups discussed the process and decision to combine. The move is intended to assist with the advancement of domestic and international issues that affect the success of Ohio’s corn and wheat markets, including energy, livestock, trade, environment and transportation issues and relief programs, research and marketing programs.

Lehner said the two organizations already had a close relationship, sharing staff and joining for membership meetings, legislative visits, public campaigns and policy-development strategies.

”It’s a logical transformation,” said OCWGA Executive Director Dwayne Siekman, in a news release. “OCWGA will build upon the successes of the two founding groups and the synergies capitalized on throughout the past several years, to have more impact.”

The leadership conducted a grower survey in 2009, which showed support for the new organization, the news release said.

“There’s strength in numbers,” said Mark Wachtman, OWGA president. “We’ll have more impact to increase our farmers’ potential.”

The OCWGA will continue to work with its national counterparts, the National Corn Growers Assoc. and the National Assoc. of Wheat Growers.
“Advancing Ohio grains is our bottom line,” Siekman said. “We look forward to a productive future.”

As part of its launch, OCWGA has debuted a new logo (pictured on page 1B) and other marketing techniques to raise awareness about its mission and values. For more information, visit http://ohiocornandwheat.org