An Old Topic Getting New Attention

While good soil health practices date back to indigenous cultures, the green revolution shifted the focus away from working within natural systems toward the use of high yielding seed varieties, irrigation, mechanization, fertilizers, and pesticides. We are seeing the unintended consequences of this approach and its limitations, leading many to advocate for these old ways, while bringing in new scientific insight and understanding.

Past land use practices and intensive forms of agriculture that have not focused on good soil management, have led to a tremendous loss of soil organic matter worldwide. These vulnerable soils have less resilience to drought and flooding, and during heavy rainfall events are more prone to soil erosion and runoff, which contribute to water pollution.

But we are now seeing a tremendous awakening in knowledge and practice. Many conservation minded farmers are instituting practices that build organic matter recognizing the biological, physical, and chemical components of the soil. These practices are also recognized by city planners and environmentalists for the many positive ecosystem benefits healthy soils provide. Whether it is better water management or the sequestration of carbon in well-managed soils, there is renewed focus on how we can create policies and programs to support farmers in instituting suites of good soil health practices.

Soil Health Makes for Financial Health

The good news is that these practices can also contribute to a profitable bottom line for producers as well. The American Farmland Trust conducted case studies on farmers using these practices across the country, which show how soil health practices increase farm viability. The two-page case studies focus on corn-soybean production in Illinois and Ohio, almond production in California and a diversified rotation in New York. The featured farmers implemented soil health practices like no-till or strip-till, nutrient management, cover crops, compost, and mulching. These findings show that producers can increase their yield, decrease their risk and input costs, and improve their profits, all while conserving resources on their farms, in their watersheds, and beyond.

OEFFA Conference Special Event on Soil Health and Profitability

We are fortunate to be bringing three of these AFT case study farmers to Ohio (virtually) so that farmers can hear about the practices they are using and how it is affecting their operations. This free half day session “Make More Money by Investing in Soil Health” is part of OEFFA’s 42nd annual Conference and will be held on Wednesday, February 10 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Eastern.

To help Ohio farmers achieve these benefits on their own farms, nationally recognized Ohio no-till farmer David Brandt, cover crop specialist and seed dealer Ann Brandt, and Muskingum County Soil and Water Conservation District Agricultural Resource Specialist Van Slack will share agronomist recommendations on best practices and compare those to their current practices, yields, and profitability per acre using an input worksheet.

You can register for this workshop through February 8 by visiting the OEFFA Conference registration page and selecting the Soil Health and Profitability seminar. Conference registration is not required to attend; however if you plan on only attending the seminar, we ask that you make a small donation to assist us with administrative costs.

Ohio Soil Health Initiative

This is one part of an ongoing process to provide resources, spark discussion, and solicit feedback from farmers. OEFFA has been working with soil scientists, other organizations, farmers, and agencies to talk about how Ohio can do more to support the adoption of these practices so that we can all reap the benefits. This effort, the Ohio Soil Health Initiative (OSHI), will be working to advance legislation in the Ohio General Assembly. If you care about conservation, are working to build soil health, and have feedback for this effort, please contact us today to learn more and inform our work.

OEFFA, the Ohio Farmers Market Network, Produce Perks Midwest, and the Ohio Food Policy Network released a new report, Opportunity in a Time of Crisis: Recommendations for Building a More Resilient Ohio Food System, which captures the landscape of small- to mid-scale agriculture in Ohio and how local and regional food systems were impacted by COVID-19.

While farmers and farmers’ markets have risen to the challenge posed by a national pandemic and disruptions in the global food supply chain and adapted their operations to feed Ohio families, those adaptations are not sustainable without state and federal leadership. Investment is needed to increase the resilience and stability of the food system. OEFFA and our partners offer eight recommendations to ensure we can better withstand future disruptions to the food system, increase access to healthy food, grow tax revenue, and enhance farm profitability.

While many have extolled the benefits and efficiency of a highly centralized global food supply chain, the pandemic has revealed that this efficiency also creates vulnerability. Farmers who relied on these centralized chains of distribution and marketing were affected as restaurant and institutional closures resulted in milk being dumped and crops being plowed under. The highly consolidated meat processing industry, largely operated by low-paid immigrant workers, became a vector for the virus which caused increased illness and death. Temporary closures left farmers with the horrible task of euthanizing animals.

These challenges highlighted what many have already know. A more distributed food system that includes a higher percentage of sales into local and regional markets, with more small- to mid-scale farms and processing facilities will make our communities more secure in the future. What many policy makers don’t often realize is the many co-benefits those investments would provide.

We often highlight the fact that food and agriculture is the leading industry sector in the state of Ohio. A large portion of the revenue and job creation in this industry comes from the processing and restaurant/retail sector. Increasing the number of meat processing plants that will help farmers who have to schedule the processing of their animals months in advance or be on a wait list, will not only help grow their businesses and bottom lines, but will create jobs in those communities and grow local tax revenue.

The same can be said for other sectors. The Ohio Farm to School Task Force has been meeting for years to increase the connection to healthy local food for Ohio’s children. One of the major stumbling blocks is that most school kitchens are built for heat and serve meals and do not have the facilities or labor to process fresh fruits and vegetables. Facilities that would do the minimal processing such as cleaning and cutting carrots and apples or flash freezing broccoli and peas so they would be available in the fall, winter, and spring of the school year, would open up new markets for Ohio farmers, increase student health, and create processing jobs.

Opportunity in a Time of Crisis recommendations detail concrete recommendations that could begin today to address both the need and opportunity revealed by the pandemic. Those recommendations include:

• Establishment of an inter-agency food work group to identify strategies to fund and build farmers’ market capacity including technical assistance and infrastructure development for online purchasing platforms for farmers’ markets, direct-to-consumer producers, and local retailers;
• Use that work group to also identify areas where creation of food preservation, processing, and distribution facilities are needed and how they can be financed;
• Pass the HEROES Act with aid for under-served farmers and those selling into local food systems;
• Pass the Family Farm ReGeneration Act (HB 183/SB 159) which supports land transfer to beginning farmers;
• Change state contract bidding requirements for local purchasing;
• Support online infrastructure development for SNAP nutrition incentive programming, like Produce Perks;
• Support the federal bill to Expand SNAP Options (S.4202); and
• Pass SB 121 which supports nutrition education.

Collectively these administrative, state, and federal policy actions require little to no immediate fiscal investment and will yield many benefits to Ohioans, not the least of which is to improve the stability of our food supply.

Please read the full report and join us in calling for action on these items today. Visit our policy resource page for the latest action opportunities on these recommendations.

One day each year is designated for us to offer some reverence for the Earth.

April 22, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a tradition started in 1970 in response to oil spills, air pollution, and water contamination so bad the Cuyahoga River caught on fire. Cleveland became a poster child for the need to take environmental action to protect the soil that feeds us, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, helping to pave the way for the Clean Air and Water Acts and the Endangered Species Act.

The need for action was clear to Michelle Ajamian, co-owner of Shagbark Seed and Mill. “When I was growing up in New York City, the afternoon roads were so thick with traffic and smog , it burned our eyes and made us cough. The beaches had raw sewage riding in the waves.”

Earth day celebrations this year will certainly be different from years past, as a virus wreaks havoc on the world. Many of us are still under a “stay at home” order. If we are lucky, we’re safe, our families and friends are safe, and we’re working from home. But more than 22 million Americans are unemployed and tens of thousands have lost their lives.

But with our society’s vulnerabilities laid bare, perhaps now, it is more important than ever to examine the frailty of our food system and the many other crises we face by not thinking more about the Earth every day of the year.

Beneath every Midwestern farm, the soil offers wonderful opportunities to solve many of the challenges we face, including increasingly erratic weather patterns caused by climate change. NASA’s Global Time Machine offers a perfect illustration of our warming planet leading to weather patterns like those that caused massive flooding for farmers throughout the Midwest just last year.

According to Scott Myers of Woodlyn Acres in Dalton, Ohio, “Farmers talk about what normal weather is and I think the new normal for farmers when it comes to climate and the weather is constant change.”

The wet spring of 2019 is being called “the new normal” by climate experts as well.

Yet, by increasing soil organic carbon, farmers can help the climate, grow their bottom lines, and develop resilience to the impacts of extreme weather.

Midwestern soils lost a net 3.5 billion tons of carbon between 1850 and 2015. That loss accelerated with decades of corporate special interest influence on federal farm policy that has ignored life-building soil practices and favored mono-culture corn-soybean systems.

Helping farmers, who manage one-fifth of U.S. land, reverse this trend, improve soil health, and increase soil organic matter on their farms is essential to the future of our food system and our planet.

Using integrated soil health practices like continuous living cover, multi-species cover crops, longer crop rotations with small grains and perennials, agroforestry, and well-managed livestock grazing, organic and regenerative farms across the Midwest have already become net carbon sinks.

In addition, these climate solutions offer multiple yield benefits to our farms, communities, and environment including stabilized crop yields, reduced nutrient and soil runoff (which leads to cleaner drinking water), and increased per-acre profitability.

Organic and sustainable farmers are leading the way forward, but our policy makers need to catch up. Encouraging farmer leader innovation takes deliberate and significant investment. It is imperative that we reduce the risk to farmers as they shift to new, climate-friendly agricultural practices that build soil health by investing in relevant technical assistance, financial incentives, and research—including support for transition to organic systems, where Ohio is a national leader.

These are not pie in the sky ideas, but tangible solutions that are being used successfully and can be adopted by more farmers with support. The new Ohio Healthy Soils Initiative is working to help Ohio policy makers act on this opportunity, but we won’t succeed without your help.

If you are a farmer implementing these practices, a farmer interested in learning about how you can do more, or an educator, health care provider, or climate advocate, please join the growing number of people who have stepped up to say we can do more. With your help, we can make a difference here in Ohio, throughout the Midwest, and around the world.

Please contact us today to learn more and let’s celebrate keeping the Earth vibrant and healthy for the next 50 years!

Four state level groups recently called on state leaders to adopt six policies that will help farmers, farmers’ markets, and low income food access.

OEFFA, Produce Perks Midwest, the Ohio Farmers’ Market Network, and the Ohio Food Policy Network, with input from Countryside and Summit Food Coalition, believe that decisive action is needed to ensure the survival of small and mid-scale family farmers that feed our communities and make sure Ohioans, particularly those receiving nutrition assistance, can access much needed fresh, local food in the months ahead.

In addition to the public impact, the group’s policy recommendations, are designed to address the broader economic impacts of COVID-19 on Ohio’s local food systems, especially among Ohio’s already under-served communities.

Nationally, from March to May 2020, alternative market channels—farmers markets, farm-to-school, and food hubs serving institutions and restaurants—are projected to lose more than $688 million in sales, leading to a payroll decline of up to $103.3 million, and a total loss to the economy of more than $1.3 billion.

We are asking Ohio’s leaders to:

• 1) Swiftly issue, in cooperation with the Ohio Farmers’ Market Network and others, operational guidance to farmers’ markets, as well as other direct market agricultural outlets, and provide resources to help them implement necessary changes, including sanitation supplies.
• 2) Develop or expand buy-up programs, such as the Ohio Agricultural Clearance Program, and pay farmers a fair price for produce, meat, and poultry items that have lost market venues and distribute them to the emergency food system.
• 3) Expand upon and increase opportunities for use of public assistance benefits with online food purchasing and delivery options, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition program.
• 4) Support the immediate expansion of Produce Perks to serve rapidly growing vulnerable populations, including individuals and households receiving unemployment benefits.
• 5) Provide incentives and assistance for alternative sales methods such as on-line ordering platforms, curbside pick-up at farmers’ markets, or relocating to larger public spaces in order to reduce handling at markets and promote social distancing.
• 6) Include farmers selling to direct food outlets, schools, restaurants, food hubs, and produce auctions in aid packages for small businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

If you support these recommendations, please contact Ohio Governor Mike DeWine now and encourage him to act immediately to make sure small and mid-size farmers, farmers’ markets, and families who rely on nutrition assistance don’t fall through the cracks, as we adapt to this crisis. We need a vibrant and just local food system now more than ever.

OEFFA appreciates the leadership Governor Mike DeWine has provided during this pandemic that will have far reaching implications for many sectors of our economy, our families, and our communities. As crisis responses continue to unfold, protecting food security by investing in Ohio farmers is essential.

UPDATE: Since this article was originally published, Ohio has issued an amended Stay at Home Order, effective through May 1, 2020. The links throughout this article reference the original Stay at Home Order. The amended order no longer references “certified” farmers’ markets, instead listing simply “farmers’ markets” among the Essential Businesses and Operations.

All of our lives are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including OEFFA members and supporters concerned about sustainable agriculture and healthy local and regional food systems that are likely to experience disruption in the days and months ahead. Please know that OEFFA remains open for business; this includes our organic certification services as well as our education department. We are not in our Columbus office but are available by phone and email.

We are currently advocating for policy responses to this pandemic that protect farmers, support local food systems, and protect public health. Please take every opportunity to contact your state and federal representatives and urge them to support these policy recommendations. If you are not sure who they are or how to contact them, click here.

We will be providing important updates on how the pandemic is affecting agriculture in the days and weeks to come on this blog, and we have launched a new COVID-19 News and Resources page where we will be sharing updates and resources as well.

In this first COVID-related blog post, we focus on the impact of Governor DeWine’s Executive Order, issued on March 22, 2020, which requires all non-essential businesses to close and directs the public to stay at home. In an effort to help Ohio’s small farmers and related businesses comply with the Governor’s Stay At Home Order, we have compiled this brief analysis.

Please note: OEFFA is not a law firm and this analysis DOES NOT represent legal advice.

Can I farm?

Yes! Farming is identified as an Essential Business under the Director’s Order. Food and beverage manufacturing are also classified as such. See page 5, section 12(c).

Are my workers allowed to come to work?

Yes, travel related to Essential Businesses is allowed. See page 2, section 5(d). Businesses must make sure that employees practice social distancing and comply with the guidelines in section 15 (page 8) wherever possible. Employers are also responsible for taking the listed actions in section 18 (page 8-9) intended to keep employees safe. It may be advisable to develop a letter for your employees indicating that they are in your employ and are working for an essential business. OEFFA has developed a template in-transit letter for agricultural employees you can use.

How can I sell my products?

In addition to grocery stores, certified farmers’ markets and farm and produce stands are considered Essential Businesses by the Director’s Order. However, the decision to open is at the discretion of the individual market. Furthermore, open markets are likely to change operations to comply with social distancing requirements. Please contact your market outlets directly for information on their plans. Travel for groceries and food are identified as Essential Activities for the general public on page 2, section 5(b), so if your market is open, people can come and buy from you.

What is a “certified” farmers’ market?

Unlike some other states, Ohio doesn’t technically have a “certification” for farmers markets. OEFFA and partner organizations interpret this language to mean markets that have registered with the Ohio Department of Agriculture. We will update this information if we get further clarification from the state. If your market is not registered with the ODA, we recommend doing so here.

I want to keep my market open. What do I need to do to keep customers safe?

The Ohio Farmers Market Network is working on a set of recommendations for open markets to follow. Watch our COVID-19 News and Resources page for these recommendations. For now, we recommend reading section 15 (page 8) for the state’s social distancing requirements.

What about other services I may need to operate like tractor repair, banking, insurance, veterinary care, construction trades, etc?

Many of the support industries that farmers rely on, from gas stations, to hardware stores, to veterinarians, to legal counsel are included as Essential Businesses under section 12 (pages 5-7). We’ve gone through the list and highlighted businesses that may be relevant to some farm operations. However, it is important to remember that the Director’s Order “encourages” Essential Businesses to remain open, but does not mandate that they remain open. Some businesses may choose not to open or may open with limited operations. We recommend contacting any business you wish to utilize to see if they are operating and what, if any, changes they may have made. If you need to travel for a good or service essential to your business, that should be considered allowed travel related to an Essential Business.  

I do not farm, but my business serves farmers. Am I considered an Essential Business?

Maybe. In addition to the list of essential businesses on pages 5-7, the Director’s Order also includes the Department of Homeland Security’s “Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce” as an attachment. Page 18 includes a long list of food and agriculture related workers deemed essential by the federal government.

How does social distancing work?

We are all in this together and all of us must do our best to limit the spread of COVID-19. Please carefully read the Social Distancing Requirements in section 15 (page 8) and work to comply as much as possible.

How will this be enforced?

In section 17 (page 8), the Director’s Order gives enforcement power to state and local law enforcement. The Director also delegates authority to answer questions about this Order in writing to local health departments. If you have questions about this Order, please contact your local health department.

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We will continue to keep you apprised of additional developments and measures that may affect food and farm operations as well as opportunities to support the important work of growing food sustainably and getting it to those in need.

Photo Credit: Three Creeks Produce

OEFFA has been working with members of the Ohio House and Senate to pass legislation that would incentivize land transfer between current landowners and beginning farmers.

After months of work, the House Bill 183, the Family Farm ReGeneration Act, passed out of the Ohio House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee unanimously on November 19.

OEFFA is thankful to the bill’s co-sponsors Rep. Susan Manchester and Rep. John Patterson.

In October, OEFFA’s Begin Farming Program Coordinator, Rachel Tayse, presented testimony to the committee on the need for this bill based on her experience working with aspiring and early career farmers.

According to Rachel’s testimony, “… OEFFA’s elder farmer generation call on me nearly daily for help finding young people to carry on their agricultural legacy. ”

Despite work to develop a new HeartlandFarmLink.org website, an online matching services for farm land seekers and existing farm owners, significant barriers to farm transfer remain. Surveys conducted both OEFFA and the National Young Farmers Coalition show access to land is the top challenge beginning farmers face.

OEFFA member and first generation beginning organic farmer Jason Ward also presented powerful testimony about the land access challenges he faces farming more than 36 parcels, averaging a size of five acres each, in four different counties, spread across 20 miles.

According to Jason, “Increasing pressure from large corporations and investors on landowners to sell their farmland for development purposes, has been detrimental to the small family farm on which I work to make a living. The availability of farmland continues to decline at an alarming rate, yet there is currently no incentive for landowners to take a chance on beginning farmers, such as myself.”

The legislation now goes to the full House for a vote. Senate Bill 159, introduced by Senator Peterson (R-17), has been assigned to the Senate Ways and Means Committee and awaits its first hearing.

You can help move this bill forward by signing our petition in support of the Family Farm ReGeneration Act today. Our goal is 500 signatures and we are currently at 447. Add your name so that we can send a strong message to the Ohio Legislature that we support beginning farmers!

Farmers will soon be able to grow and process hemp in Ohio, after Governor Mike DeWine signed legislation this week removing its prohibitions.

Before that can happen though, the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) must develop a formal program and rules, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will need to approve.

Hemp contains a fiber, grain, and oil that can be extracted for cannabidiol (CBD), which is now being used in food and dietary supplements.

Both hemp producers and processors need to apply for a license to grow or process their products to be in compliance with state and federal law. Those licenses will be valid for three years. A critical factor for the hemp industry is ensuring that THC levels remain below three-tenths of one percent. ODA will also be testing CBD and hemp products for safety and accurate labeling to protect Ohio consumers.

In addition, the new law creates a hemp marketing program, or check-off. This program will create an assessment of one-half of one percent of the value of hemp seed, fiber, or flower at the first point of sale. Hemp production will be an eligible commodity for the Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) program.

The Food and Drug Administration will assess the safety of CBD and determine if it can be safely added to foods and dietary supplements. They also need to ensure consistent strength in CBD products, safe manufacturing processes, and accurate labeling of these products.

The USDA, according to Undersecretary Greg Ibach, aims to issue a regulation in time for the 2020 crop season, which will spell out guidelines for state and tribal oversight of industrial hemp. Hemp will also be eligible for federal crop insurance through the Whole Farm Revenue Program.

ODA has created a web page to explain the hemp program and gather information from those interested in growing or processing the crop.