By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

PIQUA, Ohio — Hot topics and debate are the norm at the annual Farm Forum hosted by Rep. John Boehner. Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 8th Congressional District in Ohio, held his 20th Farm Forum at Edison State College in Piqua.

This year Boehner and his panel of guest speakers addressed a variety of topics affecting the agricultural community. They struck a vein with many of the attending farmers and others who work in agriculture, and included: how budget cuts affect agriculture; cap-and-trade; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and its effects on the agriculture industry.
Featured speaker this year was Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). Stallman, a rice and cattle producer from Columbus, Texas, has been a member of the AFBF board of directors since 1994.
He fielded many concerns from the more than 500 in attendance. But Stallman quickly switched gears, showcasing agriculture on the bright side.

“American agriculture is on a roll,” he said. “China has now become our number-one agricultural export market and we’re setting the pace for a national economic recovery. We are producing more with less, which is also good for our world, and it makes perfect business sense, too.”

Stallman said according to the 2010 National Resources Inventory issued by the USDA, the total U.S. crop yield has increased more than 360 percent since 1950. He pointed out that according to those data, farmers are producing 262 percent more food with 2 percent fewer inputs.

“More for less makes sense for people and for our planet,” he said. “We’re going to have to produce 70 percent more food for this world by 2050.”

Stallman encouraged farmers to start making an effort to talk to others about the benefits of agriculture. “We’re going to have to use another tool and that tool is doing a better job of talking about what we do,” he said.

“We don’t like talking about what we do, but we need to. We know we do a good job, and we don’t think we have to justify it. We don’t think we have to tell others about it, but in the long run it will help our cause.”

Another topic of interest were current EPA regulations. “I think it’s time to get the federal government and the EPA off the family farm,” Boehner said.
In order to do that, he said, farmers must contact local elected officials and voice their concerns. “If Americans stay engaged, you can bring big change,” he said. “Washington will do what you want, if you demand what you want.
“I’ve seen representatives turn on a dime because they’ve heard the American people say, ‘Enough.’ We’ve got a big job to do and this is the time to do it and now is the time. This is the moment.

The Farm Forum panel included Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America, the largest national trade organization representing developers, manufacturers, formulators and distributors of agricultural pesticides in the United States; Ohio Agriculture Director Jim Zehringer, recently appointed by new Gov. John Kasich; Colin Woodall, vice president of government affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc.; and Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally.
After the panel explained its thoughts on EPA regulations, Boehner answered questions from the audience. These included his position of favoring more coal production, natural gas production and other industries that must comply to clean air and water regulations, with what he said are EPA’s sights on agriculture in the future with political agendas from former politicians.

Ohio’s 8th Congressional District is one of the largest agricultural districts in the state. It boasts more than 5,400 farms growing grains, produce and raising livestock on nearly one million acres.