Celebrating Earth Day with Representative Max Miller
Written in collaboration with the Organic Farmers Association.
There are few more impactful ways to celebrate Earth Day than by inviting a Congressperson to see some of Ohio’s organic farms! It was an honor learning from farmers at Woodlyn Acres Farm in Dalton, Ohio, and County Line Family Farm in Wadsworth, Ohio with Representative Max Miller (OH-7).
The Organic Farm Day was planned in partnership with the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) and the Organic Farmers Association (OFA).
This partnership was critical to securing this conversation with Representative Miller, who is on the House Agriculture Committee and whose district is tied for second for the highest concentration of organic operations in Ohio. Having this united front with aligned organizations is vital for promoting policies that will support diversified and organic producers.
In-district events help to build and strengthen relationships with our elected officials. They are useful for gaining the official’s support on specific legislation and provide a way for constituents to communicate with those who represent them directly. For farmers, in-district meetings provide a unique opportunity to tell, show, and share how legislation impacts their farm operations—which is especially important considering that Ohio is home to 985 organic operations.
Agriculture 101
Many who serve us on Capitol Hill need more knowledge of agricultural issues. As Representative Miller said numerous times during the tours, “I don’t know what I don’t know.” The Congressman mentioned he had never been on an organic farm, so we took the opportunity to educate him on sustainable agriculture. We appreciate him spending a whole afternoon learning with us.
Congress will be voting on the farm bill in the coming weeks and months, so it’s important to give our elected officials opportunities to experience Ohio’s farms and connect with Ohio farmers firsthand. Having a member of Congress out to a farm is an influential—and, dare we say, fun—experience.
Many who serve us on Capitol Hill need more knowledge of agricultural issues. As Representative Miller said numerous times during the tours, “I don’t know what I don’t know.” The Congressman mentioned he had never been on an organic farm, so we took the opportunity to educate him on sustainable agriculture. We appreciate him spending a whole afternoon learning with us.
Congress will be voting on the farm bill in the coming weeks and months, so it’s important to give our elected officials opportunities to experience Ohio’s farms and connect with Ohio farmers firsthand. Having a member of Congress out to a farm is an influential—and, dare we say, fun—experience.
Stop #1: Woodlyn Acres Farm
The day began at Woodlyn Acres Farm, in Dalton, Ohio. Owner Scott Myers is a third-generation farmer who raises organic hay, barley, wheat, oats, cereal, rye, corn, sunflowers, and soybeans on around 2,000 acres. He farms with his father, Fred, who joined us during the in-district meeting along with Scott’s wife, Nicole, the local 4-H dairy goat advisor.
Woodlyn Acres is certified by both OEFFA and the Real Organic Project, and Scott was able to share his reasons for going organic with the Representative. Scott previously grew conventionally and became increasingly concerned about the conventional chemicals he used, especially as his family grew. Even today, Scott gets tremors and other negative health impacts that he believes are linked to his previous chemical exposure.
A Farm Bill for Organic Farmers
After playing with baby goats and sheep, we gathered to discuss some legislation that, if incorporated into the farm bill, could better support Ohio’s organic farmers. This includes a handful of pieces that are listed on OEFFA’s marker bill tracker:
- Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act | H.R. 3904: This is the no-brainer bill that will align the definition of “beginning farmer” to match other USDA programs, extending crop and livestock insurance protections for farmers’ first 10 years of operation. It will make crop insurance more affordable for veterans and beginning farmers and support America’s rural communities and agriculture economy.
- Whole Farm Revenue Protection Program Improvement Act of 2023 | S. 2593: This is the type of insurance that Scott Myers uses. This will authorize research and reduce paperwork burdens to improve participation rates, ensuring that small, mid-sized, and diversified farms can access crop insurance.
- Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards (CIAO) Act | H.R. 5973: This will make the transparent, collaborative NOSB and NOP process snappier. It will require the USDA to request public input on organic standards every five years and establish a five-year working period for the USDA to implement NOSB recommendations—considering environmental, ecological, market, and research data.
- Opportunities in Organic Act | H.R. 3650: This will empower organic producers by expanding access to new markets and resources, reducing cost barriers, and providing training and support. Since organic is a voluntary regulatory program, this legislation will expand technical assistance (like OEFFA’s sustainable agriculture educators provide), and support organic cost-share for producers which both Scott Myers and the Ramunnis use.
- Agriculture Resilience Act | H.R. 1840: This will support the important, on-farm conservation we discussed in Scott’s clover field. It will invest in research, soil health, farmland preservation and viability, pasture-based livestock, on-farm renewable energy, and food loss and waste, which will help all farmers be more sustainable for a more resilient food system.
Opportunities for Organic Dairy
While we were unable to visit Stoller’s Organic Dairy due to the current avian flu-related restrictions, Scott Stoller was able to join the conversation at the other two farms, adding a valuable dairy perspective. Scott Stoller and his family have been very intentional about farm succession planning, and his boys run much of the farm these days. This enables Scott Stoller to serve on the Organic Valley board, helping to guide the cooperative.
The upcoming farm bill presents an opportunity to provide investments in regional organic dairy infrastructure and long-needed support for the organic dairy market, similar to what conventional dairy has received for many years.
Organic Valley and other dairy groups are supporting marker bills that came to fruition through OFA’s Dairy Coalition workgroup efforts. Farmers are well-positioned to create solutions, and we love to see marker bills stem from their efforts!
- The Organic Dairy Data Collection Act | H.R. 6937: This will provide improved data collection to better understand and address the challenges organic dairies face.
- The Organic Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Reporting Yields Act (O DAIRY Act) | S. 3097: This will improve data collection for organic dairy, require USDA to design a functional safety-net program for organic dairy farmers, and provide investments in regional organic dairy infrastructure.
Organic is Climate-Smart Agriculture
As we wrapped up the tour at Woodlyn Acres, we spent some time in one of Scott’s nearby fields, planted in a blend of cover crops, including nitrogen-fixing clover. Scott shared some of his most utilized soil health practices and pointed out the benefits of these practices, which were particularly apparent after the recent heavy rain, noting that his fields infiltrated the rains speedily.
Practices like these should be prioritized in the farm bill, not brushed aside for the benefit of a few large, wealthy commodity producers, where the soil is taken for granted. Representative Miller said, “You guys are the best conservationists I know.” We hope that he considers this while he votes on the farm bill.
“You guys are the best conservationists I know.”
Representative Max Miller
Stop #2: County Line Family Farm
It was a short drive to our next stop, the home of Joe and Renee Ramunni and County Line Family Farm. Joe and Renee are first-generation Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers, who decided in 2014 to make the switch to farming to be at home more with their family, which includes children with special needs.
Joe and Renee’s property is an organic oasis. It has a hoop house, rows of vegetables, a few greenhouses, an impressive nursery for seedlings, and an outdoor pizza oven. Truly a family operation, a few of Joe and Renee’s children were there for the visit, along with some neighbors who occasionally help on the farm.
Renee demonstrated her soil blocker for the Congressman and talked about the importance of healthy soil. She said, “If you have good, ripe soil… and everything works together, you can get an organic vegetable.”
She also shared how successful County Line’s annual plant sale is. Held in mid-May, it draws in people from all over the state, even as far as Puerto Rico! Visitors to County Line Family Farm often stay to learn, as Joe and Renee are more than happy to share their knowledge and spread the good word about organic farming.
“What is our purpose? To teach as many people how to do this as we can.”
Renee Ramunni
A Critical Time for Conservation
Throughout our time at both farms, we reiterated the importance of protecting climate-smart conservation funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). These funds are necessary for supporting farmers like Scott in accessing programs like the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
They also fund the Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQIP), through which the Ramuinnis were able to get their hoop house. The IRA provided an unprecedented amount of climate-smart funding for conservation—and the resilience of our food system depends on its continuation.
Conservation is an essential tool for farmers in the face of the climate crisis. The current farm safety net is largely made up of crop insurance and commodity support programs, like Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC). While these programs work for some farmers, they aren’t well-suited for smaller, diversified, and organic producers. Instead, they tend to prop up large producers of commodities like corn and soy that often end up as ethanol or animal feed.
Scott shared that “We need to grow more food, not fuel” before Julia Barton, OFA’s Farmer Services Director, said, “Specialty crop insurance must offer the same level of risk management as commodity crop insurance programs if we want to grow food.” America’s producers should be supported to utilize conservation practices that provide their own safety net, all while making our nation’s food system more sustainable and resilient.
Taking Rural Ohio to Washington, D.C.
As we sat down to delicious wood-fired pizza, the Congressman reflected on the unique and wonderful day. It was a far departure from a jam-packed day of meetings on the Hill, but just as important.
Now, as Representative Miller fulfills his duties as a member of the House Agriculture Committee by being one of the first to vote on the farm bill, he’ll be able to reflect fondly on the day he spent with farmers in his district: a day where we emphasized needing support for organic producers, organic integrity, and conservation funding.
Before leaving the Ramunni’s farm, Congressman Miller said, “This is the most peaceful I’ve felt.” We hope that peaceful feeling stays with him as things get busy on Capitol Hill. We also hope the energy and enthusiasm around creating a just and sustainable food system expressed by the farmers he visited stay with him. OEFFA and OFA urge the Representative to harness that energy and vote in a way that allows these farmers and their farms to thrive so that future generations can feel this level of peace, too.