Ohio Ag Interests Trying To Tackle Water Quality

On Dec. 5, I grabbed a rental car and headed south from our home office in Cleveland to the Columbus suburb of Reynoldsburg to sit in on a governmental working group meeting. Normally I wouldn’t be looking forward to something like this, but this meeting was different.

Hosted by Ohio’s Department of Agriculture (ODA), Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), and Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), the Directors’ Agricultural Nutrients and Water Quality Working Group was formed in 2011 to develop a comprehensive set of actionable recommendations for reducing agriculture’s impact on nutrient intrusion in watersheds. The directors of ODA, OPEA and ODNR will deliver the recommendations to Ohio Governor John Kasich by February 1.

Virtually every segment of agriculture was in the room, from livestock groups to agricultural retailers to farmers and Extension researchers. Also represented were environmental advocacy groups including the Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy.

It’s particularly fascinating because it provides the kind of inclusive forum that agriculture is always asking for, and allows a full vetting of ideas about agriculture’s role in working toward a solution to reducing nutrient intrusion in Ohio water. It also sets the table for what industry hopes will be voluntary standards.

Members of the council broke into three sub-groups: production, regulatory and incentives, and research. I sat in on the production sub-group, moderated by ODA facilitator Kevin Elder, where the focus was on developing best management practices for reducing soil nutrient loss.

The issues are brutally complex, and each member came to the table from a different place. As you can imagine, the discussion occasionally veered off target at times. While the spirit of cooperation generally prevailed there came times that representatives needed to draw a line. But overall I was impressed with the discussion and the progress made. No one at the meeting questioned whether agriculture needed to be engaged, it was all about “how” to engage.  

There are two meetings left prior to the Feb. 1 deadline. On Dec. 18, the sub-groups come together as one to review the results of the work so far and make final comments. A final meeting in late January will put the finishing touches on the recommendations.

This is difficult but necessary work, and I hope that folks in other states facing similar issues are engaged with Ohio representatives and sharing information and experiences. The Governor has given agriculture a rare opportunity to direct its future here, and hopefully it will result in workable solutions for our industry that serve as a model for others to follow.

If you’d like to connect with what’s happening here in Ohio, you can contact Chris Henney, the president and CEO of the Ohio AgriBusiness Association by visiting the OABA website.