SAVE THE DATE – 10th Annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit – 11/5/9

http://cffpi.osu.edu/summit09.htm

On November 5, 2009, the tenth annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit will take place at the new Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on the Ohio State University campus. For this landmark anniversary, we offer exciting and information-packed breakout sessions to inform and invigorate. There will also be exhibition space and a fresh produce market in the afternoon. To help us celebrate a decade of gatherings, The Ohio State University President, Gordon Gee, will give a welcome and USDA Deputy Secretary, Kathleen Merrigan, will provide an address via video.

You often hear that farmland provides services beyond food and fiber production. The morning plenary will begin by a panel addressing the question: How can we begin to value these services such as carbon sequestration and nutrient management, and what selling and trading of these services mean for farmland protection? The afternoon session focuses on the role of farmland protection in balancing growth and restoring prosperity to Ohio.

Breakout sessions are available on a variety of topics ranging from the basics of preserving the farm business, adapting to climate change through soil management, using surveys to gauge support for farmland protection, results from the latest census, to food policy and Ohio farmland.

WHAT: 10th Annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit: Planting the Seeds of Future Prosperity

WHERE: Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, Ohio State University

DATE: November 5, 2008

TIME: 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. (approximate)

For additional information about the conference, go to http://cffpi.osu.edu/summit09.htm or contact Jody Fife, Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Office of Farmland Preservation, at 614-728-6210 or farmlandpres@agri.ohio.gov. It is expected that registration materials will be available in early September.

Planning committee organizations: Agriculture & Resource Law Program, OSU; American Farmland Trust; Center for Farmland Policy Innovation, OSU; Countryside Conservancy; Denison University; Marketing Division, ODA; Office of Farmland Preservation, ODA; Ohio Farm Bureau Federation; Ohio County Commissioners Association; Ohio Environmental Council; Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts; Ohio Planning Conference; Ohio Township Association; Otterbein University; and Western Reserve Land Conservancy.

Jill Clark, PhD

Director, Center for Farmland Policy Innovation

Dept. of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

The Ohio State University

Agricultural Administration Bldg., 337

2120 Fyffe Rd.

Columbus, OH 43201

clark.1099@osu.edu

http://cffpi.osu.edu

614.247.6479 (p)

614.292.0078 (f)

by Karen G.

The previous (and very different) version of this post is behind the cut.

The chicken wars are here as evidenced by the explosion of articles on the web and from papers around the country.  Cleveland has just lowered its restrictions on having chickens in ones back yard from a 100 foot buffer zones to 10 foot buffer zones.  The no rooster rule still applies.  There is a new web site for the urban chicken and numerous blogs.  And Cooperative Extension offices should endorse this and be able to reach out to more kids thru 4H.  But where could this lead us?  Would the Farm Bureau step up and consider supporting more small farms to sell to local franchises and other outlets.
I recently spoke to people at the Farmland Preservation conference about this?  What would be a win-win situation for local farmers to sell to franchises locally?  What would be an acceptable amount of chickens to have that would not overwhelm the neighbors because of the smell issues?  Is there a market for the byproduct?  One fellow thought this would be an interesting question to look into.  When I inquired whether a referendum vote to require corporations to buy local a lively discussion ensued concerning quality standards and working with the already existing wholesalers.  Many more question to answer on this topic.  Are we content letting low paid immigrants do this work instead of teenage FHA boys and girls who are leaving and losing the family farm to developers.  Are these the green jobs that could be brought back to Ohio?  I hope so.  I know what I’ve lost because I don’t know how to manage 5000 chickens like my grandmother did during the depression.

Are we ready to take a stand for the chicken?

by Karen G.