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Ohio Farm Bureau members discuss policy during 104th Annual Meeting

Ohio Farm Bureau delegates are discussing policy priorities during the general session of the 104th annual meeting.

Brandon Kern, senior director of state and national policy for Ohio Farm Bureau, says farmland preservation and eminent domain are top of mind for members.

“It’s going well so far, we’re kind of in the early stages of the general session but looking through the policies that have been submitted from our counties, I can tell you there’s a trend here around development pressure that we see here in Ohio,” he says.

He tells Brownfield, “there’s a lot of policy looking at making sure there’s great reclamation work done when pipelines and utility easements are put across farmland. There’s policy around an impact fund for solar development so the solar companies could pay into a fund that would help offset the farmland they’re taking out of production through solar developments by funding farmland preservation easements, for example. There are all kinds of policy around road infrastructure and all those differnet pieces of public policy that are tied to development pressure we see with housing being built, economic development projects, and manufacturing facilities that all take farmland out of production so it’s top of mind for our delegates this year.”

Kern says the organization is working with lawmakers to reform the eminent domain system in Ohio.

Audio: Brandon Kern

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