By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Cap-and-trade, animal care, reorganization of state government: Whether policy is actually changed, these topics will undoubtedly come up for discussion at the 91st annual Ohio Farm Bureau Federation meeting (OFBF), said Keith Stimpert, senior vice president, public policy.

The meeting will be in Cincinnati Dec. 2-4. More than 800 members are expected, including 343 delegates representing Ohio’s 88 counties.

“Our farmer-members come to this meeting to do a couple of things,” said Bob Vance, Farm Bureau’s senior vice president, organization.

“This is where we set policy for the forthcoming year. We also educate, we inform and we conduct business.”

On Wednesday, there will be seminars and speakers as well as a trade show and health fair. Some of the sessions will be:
•”If We Don’t Do it, Who’s to Do it for Us?” – Dr. Jay Lehr, science director of Heartland Institute and senior scientist Environmental Education Enterprises

•”Ag Perspective 2010” – Alan Brugler, president, Brugler Marketing and Management, LLC

•”Food and Animal Issues” – A panel discussion to follow up on State Issue 2

•”Consumer Trends and Food Issues” – Mike Townsley, president, Food Products Div., Bob Evans Farms, Inc.

In the evening a silent auction will raise money to support grants and scholarships given by the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation, Vance said.

General sessions where policy is decided and trustees are elected will begin on Thursday.

“We’re going to have a very interesting delegate discussion, there are so many topics out there,” Stimpert said.

Besides the aforementioned topics, Stimpert expected talk about the financial difficulties being faced by the pork and dairy industries and mining.

“The land use policy will be rewritten, although most of the ideas remain,” Stimpert said. “The policy book will be rearranged to make it more convenient and user friendly.”

At the Harvest Banquet on Thursday evening the discussion meet winner will be announced, Vance said. The topic this year is “What Can Be Done to Encourage Young People to Get Involved in the Agricultural Industry and Remain There?” The winners of the Excellence in Agriculture Award and the Outstanding Young Farmer Award will also be announced.

The meeting, which has as its theme “Innovations ... Rooted in Tradition,” will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Duke Energy Center. For information about the meeting, maps, directions and guides to Cincinnati attractions, visit www.ofbf.org and go to the “events” section.