SALEM, Ohio – A Darke County judge has ruled that milk producer Carol Schmitmeyer can continue operating as a Grade A dairy producer as long as no raw milk is distributed to her herd share customers.
Revoked. Schmitmeyer’s dairy license was revoked by the Ohio Department of Agriculture Sept. 28 after she allegedly violated several Ohio dairy laws, including processing milk without a processor’s license, selling raw milk and selling milk that wasn’t properly labeled.
The Darke County Common Pleas Court granted the temporary permit to continue operating and it will remain in effect until the court hears Schmitmeyer’s appeal regarding the order that revoked her license.
The ODA does not object to a conditional permit for the producer.
Schmitmeyer declined to comment on the temporary permit, saying attorneys are still working out some of the details.
Background. Schmitmeyer said she wasn’t selling raw milk, but had been providing it through herd share agreements with customers who paid a $50 membership fee to own a portion of the herd, plus a weekly $6 boarding fee. Although raw milk sales are illegal in Ohio, there is no law that prevents those who own dairy cattle from drinking the milk.
The ODA said the $6 boarding fee was actually the price of a gallon of raw milk.
Ohio dairy laws do allow farmers to sell milk directly to consumers if they are a licensed and inspected milk processor. They also have to meet labeling, pasteurization and other requirements.
Schmitmeyer, who had been using the herd share agreements for about one year, has been under investigation since January after two people who drank raw milk from her farm became ill with campylobacterosis, a sickness characterized by diarrhea, cramps and fever.
Tests. The dairy producer said her milk never tested positive for the bacteria.
Schmitmeyer and her husband, Paul, make a living on their 100-head dairy farm.
(Reporter Janelle Skrinjar welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at jskrinjar@farmanddairy.com.)

Related articles:
Raw milk fires up industry
March 16, 2006

Washington farm fined as E. coli source
March 30, 2006

http://www.farmanddairy.com/1editorialbody.lasso?-token.folder=2006-10-05&-token.story=59883.112114&-token.subpub= “target=”_blank”>Ohioan loses milk license
October 5, 2006

SALEM, Ohio – A Darke County dairy producer lost her Grade A milk producer license Sept. 28 after allegedly violating Ohio’s dairy laws.
According to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the producer, Carol Schmitmeyer, failed to comply with the law by processing milk without a processor’s license, selling raw milk and selling milk that wasn’t properly labeled.
Herd shares. Schmitmeyer had been providing raw milk through herd share agreements with customers who paid a $50 membership fee to own a portion of the herd, plus a weekly $6 boarding fee. Although raw milk sales are illegal in Ohio, there is no law that prevents those who own dairy cattle from drinking the milk.
The ODA said the $6 boarding fee was actually the price of a gallon of raw milk.
Ohio dairy laws do allow farmers to sell milk directly to consumers if they are a licensed and inspected milk processor. They also have to meeting labeling, pasteurization and other requirements.
The hearing officer who heard the Schmitmeyer case called the herd share agreement “nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to shield (her) from liability for her illegal sales of raw milk.”
The other side. But Schmitmeyer said that’s not true. She said herd shares are legal in Ohio and the agreements were written by an attorney to make sure the process complied with the law.
“Never was there an intent to break the law,” she said. “We went through every means possible to make sure we were upholding the law.”
Schmitmeyer did not attend the Sept. 8 and Sept. 14 hearings, but was represented by counsel.
LeeAnne Mizer, ODA spokesperson, said herd shares aren’t defined in Ohio law and the concept isn’t clear cut.
Schmitmeyer, who had been using the herd share agreements for about one year, has been under investigation since January after two people who drank raw milk from her farm became ill with campylobacterosis, a sickness characterized by diarrhea, cramps and fever.
Test results. The dairy producer said her milk never tested positive for the bacteria and revoking her license is nothing more than a ruse to make consumers feel protected by the ODA.
She said the department revoked her license to set an example and “scare off any other farmers who do herd shares.”
Schmitmeyer and her husband, Paul, make a living on their 100-head dairy farm and plan to appeal the ODA’s decision to the Darke County Court of Common Pleas.
“Yes, we are going to appeal or we will lose the farm and the home we love because we cannot financially continue without a Grade A license,” Schmitmeyer said.
Procedure. The Ohio Department of Agriculture yanked the license after an independent hearing officer recommended the action. Standard procedure in cases such as this require both sides of the case to be heard by an independent hearing officer, who then makes a recommendation to ODA Director Fred Dailey.
(Reporter Janelle Skrinjar welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at jskrinjar@farmanddairy.com.)

Related articles:
Raw milk fires up industry
March 16, 2006

Washington farm fined as E. coli source
March 30, 2006

BOARDMAN, Ohio – Mahoning County Farm Bureau volunteer leaders received all 10 of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s Standards of Achievement, or star, awards during last week’s annual banquet.
The annual meeting and awards banquet was held at the Avion on the Water Banquet Center Oct. 5.
Local leaders. The awards recognize the local programming coordinated by the county Farm Bureau committees. Chairing the teams in 2005-06 were:
Jenifer Weaver, advisory council/young farmer committee; James Moore, agricultural ecology; Marjorie Yerman, government affairs; Meaghan Chismar, information; David Kenreich, membership; Maggie Mullen, Nationwide sponsorship; Sharen O’Brock, policy development; Mary Moore, promotion and education; Steve Ramseyer, safety; and Marguerite and Paul Gillern, youth.
State Rep. John Boccieri also presented the committee leaders with commendations from the Statehouse for their community service.
Other awards. Tricia and Howie Withers received the county’s Outstanding Young Farm Couple award. They are the fourth generation to operate Honey Creek Farm in Springfield Township.
In addition to the Milking Shorthorns that have long been a fixture at Honey Creek Farm, they have added Red and White Holsteins to the herd and increased overall milk production. They have also made improvements to the operation through crop rotations, no-till and minimum till crop practices, building and equipment improvements and installation of a solar water well.
Tricia Withers also competed in the semi-finals of the Ohio Farm Bureau discussion meet in August, along with Jared Myers. Myers is one of the four statewide finalists and will compete in November at the state annual meeting in Columbus.
The local Farm Bureau presented Tom Puch, an agronomist with Agland Co-op, with its Excellence in Crop Advising award.
State update. State board member Jeff Zellers from Stark County spoke briefly to update members on statewide issues. He touched on growing raw milk concerns, saying it’s is “a very contentious issue here in Ohio”; drainage, and immigration issues.
Zellers, who chairs the statewide policy development committee, reminded members that the local policy development effort is important, and is what makes Farm Bureau a grassroots organization.
He also said upcoming election is “big,” and that “things will change” after November. He challenged members to find out where local and state candidates stand on issues, before voting.
Youth awards. Farm Bureau youth members Melissa Riehl and Rachel Stanwood were named the 2006 outstanding youth, and received a $100 U.S. Savings Bond.
Stanwood also received the Alan J. Withers Agriculture and Leadership Scholarship. She is a nursing student at the University of Akron.
Heather Moff, a freshman at Ohio State University in the ag engineering program, received the county Farm Bureau’s agricultural scholarship.
During the meeting, members elected Tom Koch, Mary Moore and Marjorie Yerman as delegates to next year’s state annual meeting. Edgar Kurtz and Michael Miller are alternates.
Organization vice president Dave Kenreich was installed as president, succeeding Tom Koch, who served six years as county president.
Members also voted on a set of 14 county policy resolutions; 16 state-level policy recommendations and two national proposals.

EAST CANTON, Ohio – Even as a young boy, Jay Harsh was interested in farming. As an adult, he’s taken that interest to a new height. Jay and his wife, Debbie, received the Distinguished Service award from the Stark County Farm Bureau Sept. 12.
The Harshes have worked with the Farm Bureau for 17 years, serving as information coordinators and helping with the membership campaign during that time. As information coordinators, their committee earned a Star Award each year.
Jay is also on the county Farm Bureau’s board of trustees.
The Harshes live on a dairy farm where they milk about 20 cows and also raise sheep and pigs. The couple farms 120 acres of corn, wheat, oats and hay.
Star status. The Farm Bureau also recognized committee chairs who earned Star Awards. In Stark County, all 10 committee chairs reached this goal.
Star Awards went to: Bill and Jennifer Wentling, advisory council; Jay and Debbie Harsh, information; Nancy Varian, membership; Terry Klick, government affairs; Janice Nieto, safety; John and Midge Brainerd, promotion and education; Les and Sharon Snyder, youth; Michael Greenbaum, ag ecology; Frank Burkett III, policy development; and Bob Wentling, Nationwide sponsorship.
President Reed Varian received a certificate of achievement for helping the committee chairs earn the Star Awards. Reed also installed Tom Seifert Jr. as the organization’s new president.
Also at the meeting, Farm Bureau members elected the following trustees: Debbie Tournoux, Jay Harsh, Terry Klick and Les Snyder.
Delegates. John and Midge Brainerd and Jay and Debbie Harsh were elected as delegates to the 2007 Ohio Farm Bureau annual meeting. Dennis and Jennifer Smith are the alternates.
Committee chairs for 2006-2007 are: Terry Klick, government affairs; Reed Varian, safety; Bill and Jennifer Wentling, advisory council; Les and Sharon Snyder, youth council; Jay and Debbie Harsh, information; Ben Ream, membership; John and Midge Brainerd, promotion and education; Michael Greenbaum, ag ecology; Frank Burkett III, policy development; and Gloria Wentling, Nationwide sponsorship.
Jay Harsh and Ben Ream were recognized for excelling in the county’s membership drive. Stark County currently has 7,076 Farm Bureau members.
Policy. In other business, Farm Bureau members approved several policies on the local, state and national levels.
Six policies were approved at the local level. Voters were in favor of a fair assessment of land concerning drainage problems and opposed allowing refuse from other states into Ohio.
Raw milk, ethanol and school funding were among the state topics. Farm Bureau members passed six policies that included support for ethanol and other alternative fuels and opposition to raw milk sales directly to consumers.
At the national level, voters approved five policies including the restriction of eminent domain and the reduction of inheritance taxes after 2010.
(Reporter Janelle Skrinjar welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 22, or by e-mail at jskrinjar@farmanddairy.com.)

SUGARCREEK, Ohio – A-MAIZE-ing Tuscarawas County was the theme for the 2006 Tuscarawas County Farm Bureau annual meeting, emphasizing the importance of corn to the economy of Tuscarawas County.
Another successful year was celebrated during the Aug. 29 meeting at Dutch Valley Restaurant at Sugarcreek. Bill Hawthorne, county president, received a 10 Star Plaque indicating the successful completion of all 10 program areas. It was his second consecutive year for this accomplishment.
Hawthorne, who has served as county president for the past four years, credited his committee members for their hard work and dedication leading to the awards. Each committee, represented by its chairman, also received a star award.
Star award winners. Committee chairmen recognized for their achievements were John Feller, government affairs; Jaynie Norman, promotion and education; Darlene Finzer, safety; Hallie Hawthorne, information; Dan Donato and Mary Jane John, membership; Michelle and Jeremy Evans, youth council; Mary Jane John, advisory councils and young farm couples; Jim Rowe and Mike Yoder, agriculture ecology; Matt Miller, policy development; and Don Hoffman, Nationwide sponsorship.
Michele Specht, organization director for Tuscarawas, Carroll and Harrison counties, passed the gavel to Jerry Lahmers of Newcomerstown, a 60-year old beef and crop farmer and former veterinarian. Lahmers has served on the Farm Bureau board of trustees and its policy development committee.
Lahmers announced his 2006-2007 committee chairpersons: John Feller, government affairs; Jaynie Norman and Rita Lahmers, promotion and education; Jim Boltz and Bill Hawthorne, safety; Dan Evans, information; Mary Jane John, membership; Michelle and Jeremy Evans, youth council; Mike Yoder, advisory council and young farm couples; Greg Hoffman, agriculture ecology; Jim Rowe, policy development; and Hallie Hawthorne, Nationwide sponsorship.
Meeting the goal. It was noted that Tuscarawas County met its membership goal this year, with a total of 2,167 members. Of that number, 1,023 are farmers.
Steve and Sonya Quillin of 5455 Angel Valley Rd., SW, Stone Creek, were honored as the 2006 Outstanding Young Farm Couple. They operate a dairy, beef and crop farm in partnership with Steve’s father and brother.
Steve’s grandfather, George Quillin, purchased a 200-acre farm in 1957, starting with 20 cows, 40 acres of hay and 25 acres of corn. When Steve graduated form high school in 1994, he joined a three-generation partnership with his grandfather, father, and brother.
At that time they had 130 cows, 200 acres of hay and 200 acres of corn, renting 300 acres. At present they have 135 cows – 80 replacement heifers, 80 steers and 70 calves under 12 months. They have 482 acres and rent another 400 acres.
Sonya grew up on a farm and is a full-time helper with calf raising, book keeping and computer records.
Ag educator. Marsha Reed was honored as the 2006 Agriculture Educator of the Year. Reed has been a teacher for 15 years at New Philadelphia’s York Elementary and she currently teaches fourth grade. She has implemented an economics program using agricultural lessons to help students learn more about the benefits and importance of farmers and farming communities.
Jeremy and Michelle Evans gave a report on some of the activities of the Bootscooter Youth Council and presented the 2006 member of the year nominees. Nominees were Nikki Dryden, 16, and Hallie Mast, 16, both juniors at Garaway High School. Dryden, the Tuscarawas County beef princess, was named the outstanding member.
Jim Rowe presented 2006 local, state and national policies developed by the policy development committee. All policies were approved by the 141 members attending the meeting, including one on educating farmers in regards to Ohio’s new Agricultural Security Area program.
Other local issues approved were a continued educational program with the county sheriff’s department concerning the protection of private property; the renewal of a 1 percent sales tax in the county; and a county clean-up program to improve visibility and safety at intersections and railroad crossings.
State issues. State issues include the support of continuing the Current Agriculture Use Value program; enforcement of proper installation and marking of gas lines; supporting the expansion of alternative fuels and exploration of domestic oil sources; and opposing the sale of raw milk.
Due to the large number of deer on area farms, the group voted to support the extension of the deer gun and muzzleloader season and reduce the price of antler-less deer tags and the creation of a family deer harvest tag packet for immediate family members.
National issues were to support legislation requiring agricultural imports to meet the same standard as required in the U.S.; supporting the removal of manure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list of hazardous materials; and the completion of the 2007 Farm Bill.
Elected to represent the county on the board of trustees were: Ray Reed, district 3; Matt Miller, district 4; Mike Yoder, district 5; Matt Durbin district 8; John Feller, district 12; and Jim Rowe, trustee at large.
Delegates. Serving as delegates for the 2007 Ohio Farm Bureau annual meeting will be Amy Mizer-Yoder, Mike Yoder, Dan Evans, John Feller, and Bill Hawthorne.
Kim Davis, state trustee, discussed some current issues and asked members to be aware of House Bill 503 concerning the slaughter of horses which could set a dangerous precedent.
Advisory councils recognized were Bedrock Bunch, 10 years; Buckhorn Farmers, four years; Hungry Farmers, 26 years; Troop 65, six years; and DFW No. 8.

ASHLAND, Ohio – Ashland County Farm Bureau recognized members for their efforts during the program year and determined policies for the coming year during the farm group’s annual meeting at Maple Grove Church.
Marilyn Byers, retiring Ashland county commissioner, was recognized for her support of agriculture in the county during her tenure as commissioner.
Byers’ active involvement in the agricultural community and willingness to listen to the public’s concerns made her a friend of agriculture and Farm Bureau, leaders said.
State update. Gail Betterly and Bob Slicker, members of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation board of trustees, gave the members an update on activities taking place at the state level.
Betterly told the group membership organizations such as Farm Bureau take a little bit from each member to make them successful.
She stressed the need for those in agriculture to tell their story.
“We can’t be afraid to tell people how to become members of Farm Bureau and help you tell your story,” she said.
Slicker concurred with Betterly.
“We are 600 miles from 60 percent of the population in the United States and Canada,” he said. “We need to talk to people who don’t know what we do and tell them why we do what we do,” he said.
County issues. Members supported policies to develop systems to supply quality water to the county; work with local zoning boards to ensure regulations protect agricultural land and enterprises; and work with the county engineer to increase the installation of solar-powered signs.
State issues. Proposed state policies dealt with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, the sale of raw milk, drainage laws, and lengthening the deer hunting season.
National issues. National policies dealt with tamper-proof identification cards for migrant workers, tax credits and other incentives for developing alternative energy, controlling Canada geese, and supporting a change in interstate commerce laws to allow states to regulate the amount of trash they must accept from other states.
Accomplishments. Volunteer leaders recognized for their accomplishments were: Tracy McCrea, advisory councils and young farmers; Maxine Swaisgood, ag ecology; Randy Welch, government affairs; Mary Ann Forbes, information; Julia Swain, Nationwide sponsorship; Ron Augenstein, policy development; Jim Bernhard, promotion and education; Norm Hileman, safety; and Dick Forbes, membership.
The county was also recognized for receiving nine out of 10 stars in the states program areas.
Four councils were recognized for their involvement in Farm Bureau during the year. Awards were presented to Happy Trails; Korova Council; GHL Council; and United 61.
Election. Elected as trustees for a three-year term were Ron Augenstein, Jim Bernhard, Terry Swaisgood, and Willard Welch.
Dan Eichelberger was elected as trustee-at-large.
Delegates to the 2007 Ohio Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting will be Ron Augenstein, Jim Bernhard, Dan Eichelberger, and Maxine Swaisgood, with Christy Lahmers and Harold Swain as alternates.
Speaker. Guest speaker for the evening was Ron Eberhard, an estate planning specialist and motivational speaker.
“Leaders welcome fresh ideas, they don’t care who owns them,” he said. “Welcome new ideas with an open mind, but ideas bring nothing unless they are carried out.”

SALEM, Ohio – Ohio dairyman Bryan Wolfe is sick of low milk prices so he, along with the National Family Farm Coalition, sent a letter straight to the top: to President Bush.
There’s “rampant corruption in the dairy industry,” they wrote, and the government is ignoring it.
The only way to deal with it is a thorough investigation into the industry, they said.
Trading. Critics say the problem is the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
Block and barrel cheddar cheese is bought and sold on the CME, and those trades set the milk prices for farmers across the country.
But there aren’t enough traders, Wolfe said. Just a handful of buyers and sellers can manipulate dairy prices either up or down, he said.
“This persistent, malicious manipulation … (causes) chaos for the dairy farmers,” the coalition wrote in its letter to Bush.
Getting a response? These complaints aren’t anything new.
In April 2005, dairymen met with CME executives and demanded more transparency into who is trading and how it’s affecting the prices. During the meeting, a small group rallied outside, some wearing cow costumes.
A second rally was held this spring.
But, still, nothing is happening, Wolfe said.
That may change. Not only did the National Family Farm Coalition take its concerns to Bush, but last month a group of six senators asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office to investigate the CME.
They asked for answers to 11 questions about price discovery, manipulation and oversight.
Those senators include Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y, and Russell Feingold, D-Wis.
So far, no response, according to Zach Lowe, Feingold’s press secretary.
Investigation. Although it wasn’t by the Government Accountability Office, an investigation was started in 2004.
The Department of Justice spent a year and a half looking into dairy pricing, but funding for the investigation was cut in October 2005, explained National Family Farm Coalition in its letter to the president.
This resulted in a price drop in dairy commodities cash trading, Wolfe said.
Cheddar cheese prices fell from $1.59 a pound to $1.12 a pound for 40-pound blocks. This meant the milk price paid to farmers also flattened – by $4 a hundredweight, according to National Family Farm Coalition.
These concerns about dairy price manipulation have been around for years.
A study in 1996 proved the National Cheese Exchange in Wisconsin was susceptible to manipulation. Because of this, it closed a year later and trading moved to Chicago.
Critics say the same questionable practices at the National Cheese Exchange also moved to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Illegal? Like the CME, the national exchange was investigated when cheese prices dropped but there was never evidence of illegal activity, said Bob Cropp, dairy economist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He guesses the same is true on the CME: There isn’t illegal trading, but the market can be manipulated.
The exchange’s role is to determine the cheese price that reflects the market, he said. As this type of market discovery mechanism, the CME is not perfect.
The proof, Cropp said, is when prices appear to be either too high or too low in the short run.
New system needed. The bottom line is there needs to be a new dairy pricing system based on regional production, according to New York dairyman John Bunting.
The current market isn’t the true balance of supply and demand that you learn about in economics class, he said. Instead, dairy and cheese are “thin” markets, meaning there are few traders.
Kraft and Dairy Farmers of America dominate block cheese trading on the CME and there’s a near-perfect correlation between that trading and the farm milk price, he said.
Several traders have 100 percent influence over raw milk prices, Bunting said. Instead, there needs to be a system where these traders have a voice in the market, but not the only voice, he said.
They’re only doing what comes naturally and what they need to do to make a profit, Bunting said; they aren’t the “bad guys.”
But government policy-makers are, he criticized. They aren’t enforcing anti-trust regulations or making policy in the public’s interests.
“We need a resilient food supply system,” Bunting said, adding that the public won’t get it with recent ag policy because it’s “twisted and distorted.”
Solution? Talk about a new system isn’t anything new, Cropp said.
One suggestion he’s heard about is to expand the CME to other cheeses, such as mozzarella. The problem is other cheeses aren’t a standardized product.
Another idea is to use the Class III futures market as price discovery but this also has received a lukewarm reception, he said.
Both these alternatives would allow more activity on the CME, meaning more buyers and sellers, but they also have drawbacks, he said.
“What is the alternative?” Cropp asked. “It’s not easy to come up with one.”

SALEM, Ohio – Dairyman Arlie Stutzman claims he sells raw milk because of his religious beliefs but that isn’t a good enough reason for him to continue, a judge recently ruled.
In addition, Stutzman’s argument that he accepts donations but does not sell the milk is “subterfuge,” said Holmes County Common Pleas Judge Thomas White.
It’s clearly an attempt to skirt the law, White wrote in his court decision July 7. Stutzman is not a charity funded by donations; he’s a dairy farmer who makes his living selling milk, White added.
Rights in question. Selling raw milk is illegal in Ohio and Stutzman argued this violates his right to freedom of religion.
Stutzman is Amish and believes it’s up to him to share with those in need, said his attorney, Gary Cox.
If people ask him for raw milk and say they cannot get it anywhere else and it’s for their health, his religion teaches him to give them the milk, Cox said.
The judge ruled otherwise and permanently barred the Fredericksburg farmer from selling or accepting donations for raw milk. He can, however, give it away for free.
‘No remorse.’ The decision follows months of conflict between Stutzman and the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Stutzman sold a gallon of raw milk for $2 to an undercover department agent last fall. The department revoked his dairy license in January.
In April he reapplied, state sanitarians inspected his farm, and he received a new license.
Milk bought in a grocery store is pasteurized to kill bacteria. Because raw milk hasn’t gone through this step, Ohio law bans anyone other than the cows’ owners from drinking it.
According to court documents, Stutzman admitted in court he’s sold raw milk repeatedly even though a preliminary injunction forbid him from doing so.
“[Stutzman] expressed no remorse for his violations and indicated no desire to bring his conduct into compliance with the court’s orders or Ohio law,” White wrote.
Further action? Stutzman’s attorney said he has not talked with his client about an appeal, but he is asking for a clarification about inconsistencies in the judge’s decision.
Until the motion is submitted, Cox would not comment on those clarifications.
“Obviously [Stutzman] is going to comply. There’s no doubt about it,” Cox said. “But he needs clarification … so he’s not back in court facing contempt charges.”
Cox also filed a motion July 10 asking for a new trial because of newly discovered evidence. He said he had proof the department of agriculture is enforcing state dairy laws selectively. The judge denied the motion two days later.
Cox said he has two clients who use raw milk in their pet food. The department proposed to revoke their licenses but days before the hearing, decided not to continue, Cox said.
This is evidence it is being selective in who it targets, he said.
Not so, said department spokesperson Melanie Wilt. It follows up all complaints or tips, as it did with Stutzman, she said.
In addition, pet food does not fall under Ohio dairy law. Instead, it’s part of the plant health law, which includes feed and fertilizer, Wilt said.
Herd shares. Stutzman also has herd-share agreements.
With these arrangements, the public can buy shares of a farmer’s cattle. Because these people are part-owners, they can drink the raw milk.
The department of agriculture has said in the past this isn’t illegal but is a way for raw milk advocates to get around the law.
The court’s recent permanent injunction against Stutzman does not affect his herd-share agreements.
(Reporter Kristy Hebert welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 23 or by e-mail at khebert@farmanddairy.com.)

SALEM, Ohio – Two months after a Holmes County farmer’s dairy license was revoked, he is now back in business.
Arlie Stutzman’s license was taken away in February after he sold a gallon of raw milk to an undercover Ohio Department of Agriculture agent.
The Amish farmer was eligible to reapply for a license immediately and did so several weeks later, said department spokesperson LeeAnne Mizer.
State sanitarians visited the farm April 17 and inspected the facility to be sure the equipment was functioning and proper health safety measures were being followed, she said.
Stutzman passed the inspection and received a new dairy license.
What happened. Investigators originally visited the operation last fall after an anonymous neighbor contacted the state and alleged Stutzman was selling milk, butter and beef from his farm.
While there, an undercover agent asked to buy raw milk, according to hearing documents.
Stutzman said there was no charge but would accept “whatever you think it is worth.” He filled a gallon jug and took $2 from the agent.
Regardless of whether the milk is sold for $20 a gallon or given away for free, it’s illegal in Ohio, Mizer said.
Milk sold in grocery stores is pasteurized to kill disease-causing bacteria. Because raw milk hasn’t gone through this step, the state bans anyone other than the farm family from drinking it.
During the undercover operation, Stutzman’s wife said they sold raw milk but “they need to be careful who they sell to because of getting in trouble,” according to the agent’s notes.
In addition, Stutzman told investigators about another area farm that may be willing to sell raw milk.
Misbranding. At Stutzman’s hearing earlier this year, state officials focused on the issue of misbranding rather than raw milk’s legality.
Stutzman asked the agent for an empty container to put the milk in, according to the documents.
This meant it violated Ohio Revised Code 917(E) and (F), which says you cannot sell or distribute a dairy product that is not labeled.
Protection. In the future, Mizer said Stutzman would be treated the same as any other Ohio dairy producer.
There will be routine inspections and complaints will be followed up, but he will not be monitored more closely because of his past, Mizer said.
The state, however, is seeking a permanent injunction in Holmes County Common Pleas Court to stop Stutzman from selling raw milk. The hearing is set for June 30.
This will be a way for the state to protect itself in case the issue of raw milk continues to be a problem at the Stutzman farm, Mizer said.
(Reporter Kristy Hebert welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 23 or by e-mail at khebert@farmanddairy.com.)

Related articles:
Raw milk fires up industry
March 16, 2006

Washington farm fined as E. coli source
March 30, 2006

BARNESVILLE, Ohio – Don Guindon stomps his boots, hangs his Select Sires hat on a peg, rolls up the sleeves on his flannel shirt and comes in for lunch.
He settles around the oak dinner table, bows his head for a moment, then passes the rice and chicken.
It seems like a typical lunch in a farmhouse kitchen, but it isn’t. One thing makes that startlingly clear.
Across the hall from where Don sits eating his chicken thigh, 70 chairs scrape across the floor, plates clatter and a cacophony of teenage voices rings through the room.
Instead of a farmhouse, Don came to a school for his noon meal.
This school, and its history, is what has shaped his Belmont County dairy farm into one of the leading conservation operations in the state.
A mission. Quakers founded Olney Friends School, a boarding high school, in the early 1800s, and the farm soon followed.
For years, the farm’s mission was to raise food for the students. The cupboards were filled with canned vegetables from the garden and fruit from the orchard. Beef, butchered on-site, was stored in the freezers and fresh milk lined the refrigerators.
But in the 1960s, things changed. Regulations cracked down on canning, butchering and raw milk.
About the same time, however, the Taber family donated its farm to the school.
With more acreage and a registered Jersey herd, then-farm manager Cliff Guindon, Don’s father, turned the farm’s emphasis to dairy production. That focus remains today with the 55-head milking herd Don manages.
The school and farm were founded on Quaker principles of simplicity and conservation, and they are still the undercurrent of both operations.
The Guindon name. Just like the farm and school are steeped in history, so is the Guindon legacy at Olney.
Cliff Guindon attended the boarding school in the ’40s and took over as the farm’s manager in 1956. He remained here for more than 30 years, while his children pitched stalls, baled hay and eventually attended the school themselves.
One of them, Don, returned shortly after getting his production agriculture degree from Wilmington College. After working on the farm for more than a decade, he was named manager in 1994.
Guided by the two Guindons and another manager in the early 1990s, Garth Parsons, the farm has turned into a conservation centerpiece in Belmont County.
Ever since the county Soil and Water Conservation District opened its doors in 1945, the school and farm have been seeking, and offering, help.
In fact, 55 out of the 61 years the district has been operating, someone from the school’s farm committee has been on the board.
Having these ties put the farm on the forefront of conservation in the county.
The Guindons were one of the first farmers calibrating their manure spreaders and introducing rotational grazing. In 1993, they also put in the county’s first covered animal waste facilities. Then they hosted tours at the farm to share what they’d learned.
Don also was quick to develop a resource management plan and a certified nutrient management plan. He farms the hills in contour strips and is adamant about sticking to his crop rotations.
Just because the farm has led the way in conservation, doesn’t mean everything is cutting edge.
With a peeling barn and 36 dated stanchions, Don said he can’t modernize Taber Farm as quickly as he might his own.
The school’s focus is on education and students, not fancy new parlors, he said.
But simplicity, conservation and preservation have kept the school and farm thriving for almost two centuries.
It’s obviously working, he said.
‘Coming alive.’ Parents see these efforts and love it, Don said. They see their children eating fresh fruit from the orchard and vegetables from the garden and home-grown meat, now butchered in town. They see the Jerseys’ big dark eyes and milk flowing through the milkers. They see the calves and the puppies, and they like the idea of their children living here.
The reality is many students shy away from the farm unless they are on “barn duty,” Don said.
Even he admits when he was a boy tagging along behind his father, he didn’t quite picture himself ever choosing to do this. But as you get older, you appreciate things more, he said, and he counts on this being true for the students as well.
Mostly, though, it’s Don’s brother Leonard who cultivates the students’ agricultural and conservation interests.
Leonard Guindon teaches math and science at the school and uses any chance he can to pull students out to the farm.
Whether he’s dropping pumpkins off the silo for a lesson on conceptual physics or using artificial insemination to show biology, Leonard works agriculture into his lesson plans.
“All that stuff is in their textbook but to be able to show them … it makes the subject come alive,” he said.
These students aren’t necessarily going to decide to become farmers, Leonard said, but at least they’ll have some knowledge of where their food comes from.
A continuation. One of these students Leonard is trying to reach is his niece Allison, Don’s daughter.
Although she spends more time in that noisy lunchroom than on the farm with her dad, Don still has her – and all the school’s future generations – in mind when he farms.
“[Conservation] isn’t just a trend that was recently started on our farm, but a continuation of some practices that have been ongoing for over 100 years,” Don wrote in his application for this year’s Ohio Environmental Stewardship award.
“We want to see that it continues for the next 100.”
Perhaps as a good omen to that wish, the farm won the award.

What is Olney Friends School?

Olney Friends School is a college prep boarding high school in Belmont County, Ohio. About 60 students are currently attending and come from many different countries.
It was founded in 1837 by the Religious Society of Friends, and still draws on traditional Quaker values. These include truthfulness, simplicity, nonviolence and respect for the good in every person.
For more information about Olney Friends School, call 800-303-4291 or visit www.olneyfriends.org.

(Source: Olney Friends School)

(Reporter Kristy Hebert welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 23 or by e-mail at khebert@farmanddairy.com.)

I have followed the stir regarding drinking unpasteurized milk with interest. Like many of you, I am sure, I grew up drinking milk straight from the cow.
We had a fairly large family and a large herd of Holsteins. Drinking our own milk really wasn’t anything to which we gave any considerable thought – it just made sense to drink the milk we worked hard to produce.
Save some milk. We would often be reminded, as we headed out the door to do the evening milking, “Be sure to take the pitcher with you and save out some milk.”
I remember that as being one of my very first responsibilities – at the end of the milking, to wash well, lift the lid of the stainless steel bulk tank and dip out some creamy milk from that huge churning vat.
I remember once when a man from the community stopped by the barn at milking time to ask if he could purchase milk for an upcoming family get-together.
He had recently retired from dairy farming and this would be the first family feast where they wouldn’t have their own supply of milk with which to make homemade ice cream.
My dad said, with regret, he just couldn’t do this. I didn’t stick around to hear the rest of their conversation, but I remember his apologetic tone as if it were yesterday. Later that night, I asked him about it.
Rules. He said there were all sorts of laws governing the sale of raw milk and he mentioned he also had an agreement with his milk hauler and the dairy. Every drop of milk produced, with allowance for our own use, was to go in the milk hauler’s truck to be hauled to the dairy. He also said if someone in that man’s family became ill, the family could blame it on our milk.
That left an impression on me, obviously, or I wouldn’t still remember it all these years later. I can tell you that without question, we were one healthy family. We rarely required a trip to the doctor.
I wondered why there would even be the question of someone getting sick on our milk, but didn’t question it.
Until now.
I am asking lots of questions to no one in particular. Why is it that some people travel for miles to get unpasteurized milk from the only “legal” places to purchase it – from established dairies owned by people who have sold it this way for years and therefore are protected under the grandfather clause in the state?
Years after that conversation with the retired dairy farmer, my parents visited Young’s Dairy near Yellow Springs, Ohio, mainly in search of a Young’s Dairy milk bottle, since Young is my maiden name.
Willing to travel. Dad discussed what a wonderful operation the Youngs run and he was amazed that people travel quite a distance, some of them on a weekly basis, to purchase unpasteurized milk, simply because they prefer it.
Isn’t it noteworthy that some people feel it is worth traveling for and fighting for and shouldn’t they have the right to consume it if they desire to do so?
I am not asking this for any political reason, I am asking because I am curious. I have long wondered why some are born with the drive to tell others how to do things, right down to what they pour in their bowl of cereal in the morning.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – After completing an investigation of Dee Creek Farm of Woodland, the Washington State Department of Agriculture announced March 23 it would assess a civil penalty of $8,000 against the unlicensed dairy operation.
Dee Creek Farm’s unpasteurized or “raw” milk was the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened at least 18 people in the Vancouver, Washington-Portland, Oregon area in December.
Three children were admitted to local intensive care units as a result of the infection.
No tests, license. After a joint investigation by the department and local health departments, Dee Creek Farm was found to be distributing raw milk without the required dairy milk producer or milk processing licenses.
None of the farm’s five cows had the required tests that certify the animals to be free of tuberculosis or brucellosis.
The farm has the opportunity to request a hearing before an administrative law judge to contest the investigative findings and the penalty.
Since the E. coli outbreak, Dee Creek Farm has been under a cease and desist order issued by the Cowlitz County Health Department that prohibits the dairy from distributing milk products.
Warning. On Aug. 11, 2005, the state ag department sent Dee Creek Farm a warning letter and license application after a Portland, Oregon newspaper reported that the dairy was distributing raw milk. The agency informed the dairy that unlicensed sale of raw milk is illegal, including milk distributed through a cow share arrangement.
Dee Creek Farm responded to the ag department by denying that they were selling milk, but expressed interest in becoming licensed. The farm has never submitted a license application.

SALEM, Ohio – You can’t sell it. It’s that simple.
But some people don’t seem to care.
They want it – and believe in it – so fiercely they’ll do whatever it takes, even if it may bend the law.
Raw milk is one of the hottest topics in Ohio agriculture, stirring controversy as the state issues warnings about health risks and launches investigations.
Meanwhile, raw milk consumers swear they’ll do whatever it takes to get the drink they say is responsible for curing their ailments and ensuring their health.

Healing powers

Nikki Cornell’s daughter inherited overlapping bottom teeth from her mother and grandmother. But last week, as the 11-year-old girl smiled, Cornell noticed those same teeth were straight.
It wasn’t braces or dental surgery. It was the raw milk, her mother said.
And then there’s Cornell’s fianc

The finances of Dairy Farmers of America are souring faster than cream in a July sun, according to a May 9 Moody’s Investors Service report.
The giant, farmer-owned dairy cooperative marketed 33 percent of the nation’s fluid milk last year.
Even worse, at least for its 22,000 dairy farmer members, is that the service said the best strategy to clean up the mess is conserving cash for DFA to “restrict payments to members in order to conserve cash for debt service.”
Great. It’s another Kansas City-based agriculture cooperative – recall Farmland Industries? – whose farmer-members now face the likelihood of paying off big debts gained by their big-dreaming, big-spending hired hands.
It’s a familiar hymn – an all-too-familiar, sad hymn – these days.
Farmers form a cooperative to gain marketing power. Success brings size. Size brings “professional” managers and, before long, the pros convince members to move into areas where members have no ability or interest – usually processing.
Then come mergers, bond offerings, maybe a legal tangle, more debt, a market reversal or two, and pretty soon you have a Moody’s report warning the world of “a decreased likelihood that investors will receive their principle and interest in full and on time.”
In a nutshell, that’s the cooperative’s short story.
Cooperative history. DFA’s birth in early 1998 had few merits other than scale.
Three of its four merging members, Milk Marketing Inc., Western, and a large portion of AMPI, brought more debt into the deal than dollars.
Its fourth and biggest player, MidAm, and MidAm’s charismatic leader, Gary Hanman, predicted the cooperative would be a dairy superstar.
With control over one-fifth of the nation’s fluid milk, Hanman envisioned the cooperative as a national and international powerhouse in milk marketing, processing and exporting.
Hanman’s dream became a reality because Hanman became the DFA’s boss.
Bad moves. Since 1998, the cooperative has used joint ventures, vertical integration, buyouts and, said the U.S. Department of Justice, a tangle of questionable tactics to become the dominant U.S. milk seller and a major player in the cheese market.
The maneuvering, however, never brought the promised profits.
According to Peter Hardin, editor and publisher of The Milkweed, a monthly dairy marketing report, the big co-op was “built on a cracked foundation.”
“When times are good for its dairy farmers,” as in the past two years with record or near-record milk prices, explained Hardin, “DFA’s processing subsidiaries can’t make money. To make money, DFA needs low milk prices because DFA is really a processor.”
“Low milk prices, though, are exactly what the farmers don’t want,” said Hardin. “In essence, DFA is competing against DFA.”
Moody’s May 9 report concurs:
“(A)s DFA’s investments in bottling affiliates have increased and its branded dairy foods business has grown, its earnings have become . . . negatively impacted . . . hence lower core earnings.”
Recent market moves by the cooperative only added to its woes.
In 2004, DFA bought hundreds of tons of cheese on the open market to hedge against what it believed would be higher milk prices, the key cost to its cheese plants.
The trouble was, notes Moody’s: “When prices for those materials fell, DFA incurred large inventory losses. This event not only highlighted the increased price risk that DFA’s business now faces, but also the cooperative’s poor risk management and hedging ability.”
Bad ending? The blunder reminds Hardin of Hollywood.
“You’ve heard of the movie, The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight. DFA is ‘The Gang that Can’t Milk a Cow Straight.’”
Straight or otherwise, DFA’s troubles may compound before they climax.
According to published reports, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division is investigating allegations that the cooperative used its market clout to influence raw milk prices – push prices lower, claim affected farmers – in regions around the nation.
Should the cooperative’s financial cheese thicken, its members may take the biggest hit, notes Moody’s, because the cooperative’s, “bylaws dictate that payments to third party creditors, including debt service, have seniority over payments to members for milk.”
That ending also sounds familiar.
Just ask Farmland Industries members.
(Alan Guebert’s Farm and Food File is published weekly in more than 75 newspapers in North America. He can be contacted at agcomm@sbcglobal.net.)

SALEM, Ohio – Ohio and New York farmers visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange April 18 and demanded greater transparency into who is trading in the market and how it’s affecting dairy prices.
Five people from the dairy industry talked with nine executives about how trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) allegedly hurts dairy prices, according to New York dairy producer John Bunting, who was part of that meeting.
A small group also stood outside, some wearing cow costumes, protesting the CME, Bunting said.
Buyers, sellers. Although the CME told him there are as many as 12 buyers and sellers, Bunting said there are only a few major players who manipulate the market.
This is a threat to the system, he said.
The CME does not tell the public who is buying and selling, Bunting said; if it did, it would be obvious that these few buyers and sellers cause milk price volatility.
“The sham would be revealed,” he said.
“They artificially create volatility to drive large farms to future contracts set at a lower price.”
Investigation? Ohio Farmers Union President Joe Logan furthered this point in a letter to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission
, asking it to investigate the CME.
Dairy futures contracts are promoted as a way to limit farmers’ risk when milk prices are low, Logan explained. Many of these contracts are based on prices established on the CME, he said.
“Under these circumstances, it is understandable that an intentional manipulation could work to the advantage of one of several market players with heavy investments in dairy futures contracts,” Logan said in the letter.
The CME released a statement April 18 saying its market regulation department monitors its markets. It also said the CME “strongly believes in the integrity of all of its markets, including the spot dairy market.”
First step. “We’re heading for a cliff. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when [farmers can't make it anymore],” Bunting said.
“The sooner we make corrections to policy – so capitalism stops and hard work pays off – the better off we are.”
He said the meeting with CME officials asking for transparency went well.
The tone was cordial, not adversarial, and he said he expects a positive result.
“This is the first step, so hopefully this will reveal to the whole world that there needs to be a new [dairy pricing] system.”
Setting the price. Although less than 1 percent of all dairy commodities traded nationwide occurs at the CME, these cheese sales set the raw milk price for farmers across the country.
“[These major companies] are making a ruse of trading the cheddar,” Bunting said. “The dollar value of what’s being traded has no impact on supply and demand.
“If [supply and demand] don’t impact each other, there are ulterior motives.”
Analyst opinion. Jerry Dryer, editor for Dairy and Food Market Analyst, said he’s heard these grumblings before, but no one has come up with an alternative.
“Day in and day out, [the CME] works fairly well,” he said.
Part of what makes it work is the autonomy, he said.
“Now [prices] are ticking down. If everyone knew who was selling and easing the market down, people would be screaming at them and giving them a black eye.”
(Reporter Kristy Hebert welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 23 or by e-mail at khebert@farmanddairy.com.)

SALEM, Ohio – Wearing green muck boots and carrying a clipboard, Connie Oshop-Keith opens the milkhouse door.
A man in manure-splattered coveralls greets her with a scowl. “What are you going to find wrong today? We just shined everything up. We spent all day yesterday cleaning for you.”
It’s just the scared, hostile remark a milk inspector expects to hear as she investigates to see if there’s any reason to reject this farmer’s milk. Manure caked on the bulk tank? insects hovering in the air? wastewater pooled around a drain? … things that make farmers’ hearts harden when they see the milk inspector pulling in the drive.
But the man in the coveralls breaks into a grin and Connie laughs.
“You guys like to give me a hard time,” she says, shaking her clipboard at him.

* * *

If Connie’s job as an inspector tied her to that clipboard and checklist every day, she would’ve been back to milking her own cows long ago.
“We could just buy their milk and leave them on their own,” she said. But that’s not how it works for her and that’s not how it works for her employer, Schneider’s Dairy in Pittsburgh.
Connie, 46, is required to make only two trips to her farms each year for inspections, but that doesn’t stop her from dropping by other times as well. She brings farmers information on the latest programs, she arranges workshops with experts, she pushes producers toward innovation, she agonizes over their numbers and she thinks up ways for them to improve.
And she looks out for them, making their official inspections as painless as possible. Each time she visits, whether it’s to drop off a pamphlet or to check on their expansion, she glances around and lets them know what to fix before inspection time.

* * *

But that doesn’t mean Connie isn’t tough with that clipboard.
As she enters another milkhouse in western Pennsylvania, she takes a quick look around.
It’s like a house, she says. If the kitchen is clean, you assume the food will be good. The same is true here, she continues. If a farmer cares enough to keep his milkhouse clean, he’ll care about the other details, too.
She carefully inspects any equipment that may come in contact with the milk. Is it clean? Are the gaskets rusting? Are there old soda cans or tools or other unnecessary items sitting around?
She moves on to the barn. Are the cows clean? Comfortable? Do they look healthy? She pays particular interest to the calves.
“I hate seeing dirty calves because they’re the farmer’s future,” she says.
She opens the refrigerator and cupboards. Are all the drugs labeled and stored correctly? What about sanitizers?
She jots notes, signs her name, explains what needs fixed, questions if they need help. She puts down her clipboard and asks if they’ve signed up for the new Johne’s program yet, hands them brochures for a workshop, forewarns them about animal ID and then asks about their children.
“We take her advice pretty seriously,” says farmer Dean Kind. “She looks at us as one team, not like we’re on separate teams.”
Connie figures if she works with the farmers to help them increase their production and improve their milk quality, it will only pay off for Schneider’s.
And she can’t do that simply by making checks on a list.

* * *

It’s been more than 20 years since Connie bought her first “livestock.” It was a goat and when she brought it home and let it loose in the yard, it ran away.
After spending an entire day chasing it down, Connie decided it needed a friend and thought a horse would be perfect. But after she spent $500 on a 10-by-12 building, she realized she could fit a second horse in there, too.
Once she had the two horses and goat, she changed her mind and thought the building was too small. So she moved to a bigger parcel in Petersburg, Ohio, and got four more horses.
One day, she walked to a neighbor’s dairy farm. She’d never seen a cow so close and she fell in love with those dark doe eyes. It didn’t take long before she came home with her own newborn Jersey in the cab of her truck.
Two years, she thought, I have two years until I need to start milking. She went to work setting up a milking operation and buying heifers.
But Connie didn’t know the first thing about milking or farming or cows in general. So she visited dairies in the area. Teach me everything you know and I’ll be free labor for two weeks, she told them.
She spent the next nine months picking up tips from area farmers and fine-tuning plans for her own operation.
Two weeks after the birth of her third child, Connie began milking her 12 cows and quickly built up to 70.
Years later, Connie got a divorce and, with five young children, decided to sell her herd. But she wasn’t about to leave the dairy business.
Instead, she spent the next few years working as a herd manager for two farms in western Pennsylvania.
Finally, in the mid-1990s she got her milk inspector’s license and will celebrate her sixth anniversary at Schneider’s Dairy this year.

* * *

Connie could easily make two stops a year at each of her 100 farms, look over their equipment, fill out her sheet and forget about them until there was a problem.
But that isn’t the way she works.
When a new Johne’s program was introduced, western Pennsylvania vets were going to have to travel several hours to attend the required program. So Connie and her company paid for local training for nearby veterinarians.
When a dairy tour was planned for eastern Ohio, Schneider’s picked up the tab for its farmers.
When dairy beef quality assurance became an issue, Connie planned a workshop for her producers.
When a farmer is expanding or buying new equipment, Connie offers to bring in a vet or engineer or builder to give free advice.
Although she acknowledges Schneider’s didn’t operate this way before she started, she refuses to take credit for the turnaround. Her boss, however, says otherwise.
Connie was exactly what we were looking for, said vice president Bill Schneider Jr.
“Our whole raw milk program is enhanced because of her,” he said. “She continues to flourish. As far as programming, we’re the most progressive in Pennsylvania.”

* * *

Connie knows when some inspectors walk into the milkhouse, their farmers immediately remember every improvement they’ve been meaning to do, every speck they probably didn’t clean that morning.
But she strives to overcome that image.
“I want to live by these standards every day, not just at federal rating time,” she said. “Sometimes that’s a hard mentality for [the farmers].”
By now, though, most of her producers are used to it.
“I’m critical of what I want, but I’ll work with them to do it,” she said.
For example, the somatic cell count legal limit in Pennsylvania is 750,000, but that’s not good enough, she says.
The United States is the only country with a limit that high and it should be lower, she said.
When Connie started at Schneider’s, their farms’ average count was 550,000, but now it’s under 300,000, she said.
Still some farmers don’t understand why a higher number isn’t OK as long as it’s legal.
It affects the shelf life, more additives have to be used, and the state penalizes you, she tells them.
Let me come and sample your cows and send away for results and work with a vet, she says.
“We’re not telling them they have to change on their own, we’re saying we’re here to help.”

* * *

Driving 700-900 miles a week visiting farms from State College, Pa., to the Ohio border could wear Connie out.
But her five children, grandson and new husband, Penn State Extension dairy educator Rodger Keith, keep her life balanced.
When she gets up at 4:30 a.m., she looks forward to the day ahead. And when she comes home at night, she tells her children, “I don’t care what you do, I want you to wake up with a passion.”
Connie’s farmers know all about her passion – and it’s not found in checklists or rules or black X’s.
It’s illustrated by the days she can leave her clipboard in the car and talk farming instead.
(Reporter Kristy Hebert welcomes feedback by phone at 800-837-3419, ext. 23 or by e-mail at khebert@farmanddairy.com.)

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -

COLUMBUS – Ohio Farm Bureau delegates got back to basics at the farm organization’s annual meeting last week, approving major changes in their policies toward land and water.

The 85th annual meeting was held Dec. 3-5 in Columbus.

Members revamped the farm group’s line fencing policy, and added new policy regarding water use and drainage.

Looking ahead. Farm Bureau leaders also announced the start of a “Future of Ohio Agriculture” study, hoping to uncover agriculture’s future within the Buckeye State and the role Farm Bureau should play.

“Each of us has the opportunity and obligation to make sure that in the next 10, 20, or 30 years, we still have agriculture in Ohio,” said Jack Fisher, Ohio Farm Bureau executive vice president.

“The cards are stacked against us.”

Fisher said the study will create Ohio’s “ag road map” and added the Farm Bureau is ready to “take the lead in strategic planning for Ohio agriculture.”

Line fences. In one of the more heated exchanges of member opinions, delegates overturned the state Farm Bureau’s long-standing policy regarding line, or partition, fencing.

State law currently requires owners of adjoining lands to equally share the building and maintenance of all line fences between them, unless otherwise agreed.

Saying the current fence law isn’t working, Farm Bureau delegates approved policy that supports a change in Ohio law.

Shift burden of proof. The members’ proposal shifts the fencing responsibility to the landowner requesting the fence, unless he can show that the adjoining landowner has livestock on the adjacent property or would receive another benefit from the fencing.

Township trustees would retain oversight of line fencing, a responsibility many trustees would like see go away.

Call for study. After sleeping on their decision, however, Farm Bureau members returned to the issue before adjourning the next day.

Monroe County delegates requested the state board convene a fencing task force to study the issue before acting on the policy.

Ohio Farm Bureau President Terry McClure agreed to the delegates’ request.

The issue is already moving to the legislative front burner, according to OFBF Director of Local Affairs Larry Gearhardt.

In the last General Assembly, state Rep. Merle G. Kearns introduced a bill that would have repealed the partition fence law altogether.

Drainage. In other debate, delegates amended current policy on Ohio’s drainage law, calling for changes to the Ohio Revised Code to give soil and water conservation districts greater authority in getting easements for drainage.

Gearhardt called the issue “critical” to Ohio landowners, particularly with increased development around the state.

“Drainage improvement is so important that they’re willing to give up rights to get drainage improved,” Gearhardt said.

The Farm Bureau members would like local SWCDs to have the same level of authority as county engineers to get construction and maintenance easements for drainage projects.

Water use. While the Midwest is flush with water, skirmishes over water use are on the horizon. Farm Bureau delegates added new policy protecting Ohio’s water basins from withdrawals to other regions of the country.

Members also opposed diverting water from one major river basin to another, even within the state.

Delegates said they would oppose expanding Ohio’s Water Withdrawal Facility Registration Program into a water use permitting program.

Other issues. The contentious issue of video lottery terminals, or slots, at Ohio racetracks reared its head at several points during policy development.

Proponents said Ohio’s horse industry is suffering along with the state’s racetracks without the option to entice track visitors. Opponents – the majority of Farm Bureau delegates – responded repeatedly the organization won’t sanction anything related to gambling.

The issue puts the farm group in delicate situation. For the past several years, it has been courting horse owners as members. The racetrack lottery terminal issue, which has been raised in the Ohio Statehouse, could benefit from the farm group’s clout, but the conservative group has solidly opposed past gambling issues.

Delegates also turned down a proposal to support the sale of raw milk in Ohio.

Trustee elections. Two new trustees were elected to the state board. Don Ralph of Morral will represent Crawford, Marion, Morrow and Richland counties. He succeeds Lee Oswalt, who retired from the board.

Joe Pittman of New Concord succeeds Andrew Wilson, who did not seek re-election. Pittman will represent Guernsey, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry counties.

Re-elected to the board were: Edwin Lamalie, Fremont; Charles Lausin, Thompson; Jeff Zellers, Hartville; Brent Porteus, Coshocton; Tim Williams, Piketon; Vickie Powell, Bidwell; Gale Betterly, Richfield; and Ellen Joslin, Sidney.

In the board’s reorganization following the annual meeting, Terry McClure was re-elected president and Bob Peterson, first vice president.

In times like this, when the milk price is low and profitability seems unattainable, it seems that everyone is looking for a solution to the dairy industry’s raw milk pricing dilemma.

Many try to solve it by addressing global issues like imports and exports. A number in the industry think that cost of production should be factored into milk price calculations.

Some spend a great abundance of time and effort in attempts to increase demand through product promotion.

Still others talk about supply management as the solution to our problems.

All of these can and do affect the bottom line of profitability, however, when discussions are held on these questions the only consensus reached by those participating is that there are more questions than answers.

Even the CWT program being implemented this summer, while being able to gather more support than any other effort previously attempted, is still being rethought and altered minute by minute.

Start at home. With broad answers to low milk prices remaining elusive, focusing specific efforts on our individual operations appears yet to be our best option.

When we ask, “How can I improve my operation?”, answers like “price risk management”, “specialization”, “expansion”, “low input operations”, “increased dry matter intake” and the ever dreaded, overused voodoo suggestion “increased efficiency” are thrown about.

And it is very relevant to continue to have discussions on all of these management suggestions as well as those attempting to address milk prices.

But when all is said and done, the most effective efforts in determining productivity and profitability are those directed into our own specific operations.

Managing what we control. The foundation on which good management is built is complete and accurate records. Yes, maintaining good records is a time-consuming task, but it is well worth it.

Without proper documentation, all the planning, organizing, and staffing cannot be effectively directed or controlled and the result can be classified as little else but wasted time.

The only good aspect of not keeping good records is that you don’t know how much time you wasted or the money you’ve lost.

When we consider keeping records, we must also determine what type of records we need, for there are many types.

Financial. One of the most important and most common types of records we maintain, at least to keep the IRS happy, is our financial records. These records are required to fill out our taxes, to apply for loans, and for the most part to justify our labor and efforts.

Dairy Excel’s 15 Measures of Dairy Farm Competitiveness is an excellent source to use to compare your operation with industry standards.

Measurements included are: operating expense ratios, dairy investment per cow, net farm income, asset-turnover ratio, rate of return on farm assets, and debt-to-asset ratio.

Contact your local extension office for more information on the 15 measures.

Production. Production records are some of the most fulfilling records to keep and are usually the records that most dairy producers can quote completely.

Milked shipped, rolling herd averages, pounds of milk sold per worker, breeding records, calving intervals, and feed consumption are all examples. Everyone should be familiar with these and a complete list is not only lengthy but also probably unnecessary.

Animal health. The importance of these records has increased the last decade as drug residue tolerances decrease and drug screening test sensitivity increases.

The beef and dairy quality assurance programs has provided critical drug residue prevention information and has established a mandatory system of compliance.

BSE, foot-and-mouth, and Johne’s disease have also increased awareness of the risks of infectious diseases and have led many to develop on-farm biosecurity plans and records.

As the consumer demands greater assurance of a safe food supply, how can a more accurate and complete record keeping system be denied?

Animal ID, drug use treatment logs, residue testing results, veterinary recommendations, visitor logs, and shipping records may all be required in the future.

Product quality. In livestock agriculture, product quality goes hand in hand with animal health.

With market competition continuing to increase the quality of our product must also remain high and above reproach. Therefore, it is imperative that each individual operator monitor and record quality issues such as has been done by dairy cooperatives and processors in regards to bacteria and somatic cell count.

Other on-farm records could include sanitation procedures, system maintenance, product temperature, and chemical inventories.

Environmental impacts. The latest 300-pound gorilla in the industry is the concern over animal agriculture’s impact on the environment and the rules that are being established to limit it.

Until recently, a limited number of livestock operations have been required to apply for permits, however under the new U.S. EPA guidelines, every operation that has the potential to discharge will be required to at least apply for a CAFO/NPDES permit.

A good portion of the permit has to deal with the documentation of manure storage and application practices. Complete records are required to show that an operation is in compliance of EPA’s discharge rules.

Unlike the U.S. trial system, when it comes to environmental degradation, it seems that most parties are considered guilty until proven innocent.

It’s recommended that all livestock operators develop and implement a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan that has been approved by their local soil and water conservation district using USDA standards.

Records included in a manure plan would include soil and manure analysis data, cropping rotations, manure application methods and amounts, water monitoring test results (ground & surface), and emergency contact information (in the case of a spill).

According to Ohio’s new Livestock Environmental Permitting Program, producers will also have to monitor and document pests such as flies and rodents.

Third party assessments. A great way to know if you are up to speed with today’s changing environmental requirements is to participate in a third party, on-farm assessment.

One program that is recommended because of its high level of confidentiality is the On-Farm Environmental Assessment and Review program sponsored by the Ohio Livestock Coalition and it’s free.

For more information on this program go to www.ohleap.org on the web or call 614-246-8288.

Animal well-being practices. As mentioned before, consumer expectations and demands are continuing to increase.

The conflict seen by most producers is that consumers want a higher quality, lower risk product, that is raised in a manner that does not negatively affect the environment nor does it cause undo stress or discomfort to the animal; and they want it cheap.

Those who are able to document that generally accepted best management practices (BMPs) are being used on their operations will be ahead of the curve when it comes to market competitiveness.

Emergency management. One of the most important types of records may be one of the most overlooked on today’s dairy operations. Dairymen are generally concerned with the day-to-day operation of their dairy and have little time to consider, “What if……?”

A written Emergency Action Plan lets anyone involved in the operation promptly react in the case some emergency is encountered. This documentation can save as little as a few minutes to as much as the life of an individual.

Some of these details include: emergency contact numbers, facility maps, locations of hazardous chemicals, underground containment units, and procedures for handling things such as catastrophic mortalities and spills.

You may also consider contacting your local emergency management personnel.

(The author is an OSU Extension associate with the dairy industry enhancement program. Questions or comments can be sent in care of Farm and Dairy, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460.)

Editor:

Paraphrasing author William Shakespeare, dairy farmers during June Dairy Month are faced with a really big decision: Will we back CWT, a supply management plan that will reduce milk production and boost farm prices, or will we just sit back and complain about our economic situation?

It is up to today’s dairy farmers to decide where the future will take our industry.

We dairy farmers have an opportunity to help ourselves without the government stepping in. For the past 20-plus years, this is exactly what I have heard dairy farmers say they have wanted. Every meeting that I attend, I hear dairy farmers say to get government out of farming. I hear dairy producers say they feel the MILC program is just a form of welfare.

Well folks, we have an opportunity right now to work together and help ourselves – no government involvement, just farmers working together to solve the problems of the dairy industry.

We must first decide if we can agree that the dairy industry has a problem. I believe we do! We should be able to make a decent living providing raw milk to the dairy processing industry. That is not possible today with continuing increases in expenses (like hospitalization insurance, fuel prices, and other farm input costs) and the continuing trend of low milk pay prices.

Assuming that we agree there is a problem, the next step is to decide what to do about it.

I continue to hear that co-ops should solve all of the problems, but that is unrealistic.

The current supply/demand imbalance and low milk price situation are problems for the entire dairy industry. The milk surplus was not caused by co-ops who market milk, but from farmers who produce milk. The flattening of consumption trends has everything to do with consumers, not farmers and their co-ops.

So, every dairy farmer had better ask, “What have you done lately to help increase or positively influence milk prices?”

We all have the chance to do something right now by supporting CWT. Let’s not let it pass by.

CWT is a positive step. Is it perfect? No. But it is farmer-created and farmer-led.

CWT’s concept of reducing milk production and herd size may not necessarily fit into the business philosophy of all dairy farmers.

For instance, on my farm our herd and production levels are at the size that can support our family. In fact, due to the weather and other forces of nature, we have already reduced our production level and our herd size has not really changed in 10 years.

The success of CWT, however, is important to my family dairy operation because it affects the future of our farm. By helping to support the program and by paying our share of the costs, our 17.9 cents per hundredweight will help to stabilize the market and help enhance prices.

Dairy farmers need to work together through CWT to increase our milk checks. This is truly one of those programs where you are either part of the solution or part of the problem.

I urge my fellow dairy producers to be problem solvers for this industry’s future. Support CWT. Be a part of the solution.

Connie Finton

New Philadelphia, Ohio

(Connie Finton is a board member for Dairy Farmers of America.)