Ohio Food and Farm Policy

Ohio Soil Health Initiative

Working with the National Healthy Soils Policy Network, OEFFA led the effort to create the Ohio Soil Health Initiative (OSHI).

OSHI is a coalition of farmers, organizations, soil scientists, and agencies. They are committed to advancing soil health policy and programs. They also provide farmer-informed resources and support to accelerate the widespread adoption of soil health practices.

During their meetings, the initiative has worked to establish a Healthy Soils Task Force and to review legislation implemented in other states to identify best practices for Ohio.

Healthy Soils Task Force

Coordinated planning is needed to make soil health and our climate a real priority in Ohio.

To this end, with support from OEFFA and OSHI, Representative Juanita Brent (D-12) introduced Ohio House Bill 669 in May 2022. It would create a Healthy Soils Task Force.

The task force consists of farmers, soil health experts, academic institutions, environmental organizations, and appointees from the Ohio House and Senate. It would create a comprehensive healthy soils action plan and examine incentives, resources, and partnerships to improve soil health.

Contact your Representative and ask them to support HB 669 for the Healthy Soils Task Force!

Henry Peller

Vegetable and perennial crops, Roseville, OH

Henry Peller’s 125-acre family farm includes crop fields, orchards, forests, wetlands, and prairie. He grows produce on 4 acres, where he mobilizes an armada of soil health practices in zero-herbicide, minimum tillage production systems. Specifically, he sows cover crops each fall, terminates them using a homemade roller crimper and occultation tarps the following spring, then direct seeds or transplants crops using no-till planting tools.

Matt Herbruck

Birdsong Farm, Garrettsville, OH

Matt Herbruck uses no-till, regenerative techniques to grow about 5 acres of vegetables, herbs, and flowers in permanent beds. He uses occultation to suppress weeds and adds microorganisms and fungi with fall leaf litter and wood chips. Matt is motivated by his desire to positively impact the environment and his community through his daily connection with nature.

Bruce Kress

Organic grain, Laura, OH

Since 1997, fourth generation farmer Bruce Kress has grown organic, small grains on his 75 flat, tillable acres of heavy Brockston-Crosby soils. Bruce is in awe of life below and above the soil, so about 15% of his land is left to regenerate with cover crops year-round. The other land is is kept covered in the dormant season to build soil life and microbiology.

Jim Linne

White Clover Farm, Hillsboro, OH

On his 300-acre farm, Jim Linne raises 100% grass-fed and grass-finished beef. Through rotational grazing of perennial pasture, Jim builds soil organic matter. He doesn’t use herbicides, fertilizers, pesticides, or antibiotics to protect the trillions of soil microbes. Jim strives to produce healthy, nutrient dense food using only grass, water, and sunshine—the way nature intended.

Losing Ohio’s Farmland

The American Farmland Trust has identified Ohio as a priority state in need of land protection. For example, between 2001-2016, Ohio lost 312,200 acres of agricultural land to development. Nationally, 100 million acres of land will change hands in the next few years, putting even more land at risk.

Ohio has many tools in place to stem the tide of this land conversion. They include the Clean Ohio Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program, Agricultural Security Areas, Agricultural Districts, and Current Agricultural Use Valuation Program.

Despite the success of these programs, they are not enough. Ohio needs to encourage communities to develop comprehensive plans and identify policies to protect agricultural resources. And, our state leaders need to continue to incentivize land transfer between farmers to help address rising land prices and farm consolidation.

Family Farm ReGeneration Act

Access to affordable, high quality farmland is the number one challenge young farmers face.

The Ohio legislature passed House Bill 95, an important first step for getting Ohio’s next generation farmers on the land. In April 2022, Governor Mike DeWine signed the OEFFA-backed bill into law. It was co-sponsored by Representatives Susan Manchester (R-84) and Mary Lightbody (D-19). The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit went into effect January 1, 2023.

Over the course of more than two years, OEFFA members met with legislators, testified during hearings, and participated in lobby days to convey the importance of land access for Ohio’s 33,000 beginning farmers. 

The Family Farm ReGeneration Act (FFRGA) encourages those with farmland, livestock, buildings, or equipment to sell to beginning farmers to receive income tax credits. Beginning farmers are also eligible for tax credits. 

Making Investments in Regional Food Economies

OEFFA advocates for making investments in Ohio’s local food system, including the Ohio Food Policy Network and institutional purchasing and processing facilities that open up markets for local producers. We support the strategic use of federal farm bill funding, including the Local Food and Farmers Market Promotion Program, the Value-Added Producer Grant Program, and the Regional Food Economies Investment Program.

Supporting Agriculture That Pays Ecosystem Dividends

Ohio is sixth in the nation in the number of organic producers and second only to California in the amount of land in transition to organic. OEFFA supports investing in Ohio’s growing organic sector, including resources for farmers transitioning to organic; research, education, and Extension services for organic production; and a state organic working group.

Facilitating Agriculture for the Next Generation

Finally, OEFFA supports resources for farm succession planning, expanding tax incentives for beginning and BIPOC farmers, continued funding for the Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (AEPP), and helping Soil and Water Conservation District staff to facilitate participation in AEPP.

HB 669 Introduced to Create Healthy Soils Task Force

Soil health is essential to the future of our food system and in combating climate change. That’s why OEFFA and OSHI worked with Representative Juanita Brent (D-12) to introduce legislation to create a Healthy Soils Task Force.

Statehouse Win! Family Farm ReGeneration Act Passed

The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit went into effect January 1, 2023! The Family Farm ReGeneration Act helps Ohio beginning farmers access farmland by offering tax credits for owners of agricultural assets who transfer them to the next generation.

Report Offers Ohio Food System Recommendations

OEFFA, Ohio Farmers Market Network, Ohio Food Policy Network, and Produce Perks Midwest offer eight policy recommendations Ohio’s decision-makers can implement to invest in farmers and build food security.