Farm Bureau leaders meet with lawmakers
Highland County Vice President Nathan Brown recently attended the Ohio Farm Bureau’s annual county presidents trip to Washington, D.C.
Participants from all 87 county Farm Bureaus started the trip out by converging on the Capitol Hill Club where they were updated by American Farm Bureau staff on current legislation such as the Farm Bill, immigration, water quality, and the Affordable Care Act.
Day two brought visits to the Ireland and Australian embassies where participants learned about agriculture in those two counties. Both embassies shared their agriculture highlights and spoke on the importance of exports.
One statistic that you might not know is that Australia is the 12th-largest agricultural export market for Ohio, exporting $24 million in ag products there just in 2012.
[[In-content Ad]]
Next, participants were given an update at the Food and Drug Administration on proposed language for the Food Safety Modernization Act that will affect produce growers. They are currently working on collecting input on the new proposed language before they put into law.
After the FDA visit, the county presidents walked to Capitol Hill for the annual Ohio Farm Bureau Legislative Forum. U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs hosted with guest U.S. Rep. John Boehner, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, U.S. Rep. David Joyce, and U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte.
The government's sequester, budgets, immigration, healthcare, our maritime infrastructure, and the Farm Bill were all hot topics at the forum.
U.S. Rep. Bob Gibbs concluded the forum by touching on the Farm Bill, noting that 80 percent of the bill is nutrition, programs such as WIC and SNAP.
He commended farmers for being willing to give up much scrutinized direct payments for a stronger Risk Management Program. He touched on maritime transportation and the need to update our ports, as well as our failing locks and dams. These structures allow us to export and should be looked at to be upgraded as soon as possible.
On the final day of the trip both Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Rob Portman gave their views on budgets.
Participants also met with legislators from their own districts giving them face-to-face contact to discuss local issue.
"This was an awesome trip for a little southern Ohio farmer," Highland County Vice President Nathan Brown said. "To be able to meet the people we did and to discuss our issues in an open format is truly humbling.
"Our government is made by the people, for the people, and even though that doesn’t always seem true, this trip opened my eyes to that. This is one of many reasons why being a part of a group with the same ideals and goals are so important today. The respect that legislators have for Farm Bureau is humbling and makes me proud to say I am a Farm Bureau member."
Other area attendees included: Emilee Arthur, Adams County Farm Bureau vice president; Chris Rodgers, Brown County Farm Bureau president; and David Lewis, Clermont County Farm Bureau president.