Saw the movie Lincoln this week. I know it has been out for a while. It was high on my choice list, but family and friends seemed to prefer The Hobbit and les Miserables.  I was surprised Lincoln was still showing at the local Regal Cinema and thanks to a Christmas gift certificate from my son, Kathy and I went to see it. It is a great performance by Daniel Day Lewis. The makeup artist makes him look just like Lincoln – even aging him from the stress of the job. But…

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The Ohio State Fair is a celebration of agriculture. For a politician it is also a time to associate yourself with the state’s largest industry. Gov. John Kasich found time to declare a drought situation on day one of the fair. In response to severe heat and rainfall shortages across large areas of the state which are afflicting much of Ohio’s agriculture industry, Gov. John Kasich chose the first day of the fair to sign Executive Order 2012-11K instructing state agencies to help…

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First let me update the last post. Mike Adkins, retiring site manager for the Ohio Farm Science Review, reports record yields in corn, soybeans and wheat on the fields of the Molly Caren Ag Center. Corn averaged in the 205 range including outstanding yields on short season demonstration area fields of 175 bushels per acre. Soybeans nudged ahead of prior highs at 56-57 bushels per acre. The wheat yield came in at 90 bushels per acre. The last was most astounding to Chuck Gamble, FSR manager…

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Yesterday (June 25) the Ohio Senate voted unanimously to allow a referendum to be put on the November ballot creating a 13-member Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board as part of an amendment to the state’s constitution. The board would be charged to provide oversight on how farm animals are raised. It would include “a broad base of livestock care experts including family farmers, veterinarians, a food safety expert, a representative of the local human society members from the statewide farm…

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  The National Corn Growers Association recently recognized U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Dover, for carrying two important amendments to H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The bill was passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week. Space’s participation was certainly influenced by the Ohio Corn Growers Association and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. Both groups have taken the position that legislation on greenhouse gases is inevitable and agriculture needs…

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     Republican Sen. George Voinovich likes Ohio agriculture. Even though Democrat Director Robert Boggs, occupies the main office of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, it was clear last week that the senior senator feels at home holding his annual farm forum in the upstairs conference room of the Bromfield Building, which was built during his administration. In fact Greg Hargett, deputy director, opened the meeting by bringing out a 20-year-old photograph of then Gov. Voinovich taking…

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First came the report last week that OSU Extension has cut 22 county-based jobs as a result of the state budget short fall of $2.7 million. Extension officials further predict that 38 more jobs will need to be eliminated if Gov. Strickland budget is approved for 2010-2011 biennium budget is passed.   Now comes word the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Soil and Water is being “consolidated” with the Division of Water - creating the Division of Soil and Water Resources. The…

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It was Ag Day at the state capitol in Columbus Feb. 11.   Representatives of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation were gathered to deliver the organization's message on the state budget to their legislators. The group kept it simple. Restore funding for Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio agricultural Research and Development Center. Maintain funding for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Support agricultural education. Uphold private property rights especially with regards to…

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I’m just back from the inauguration and I must say, it was very much what I expected. Cold, long lines, too many people and inspiring in spite of itself.   My best college friend Jim Baer, a real estate developer in Palo Alto, Cal., called me a week before the big event and asked if I wanted to go. He had been given two tickets by his local Congress woman in appreciation of the work he is doing to turn her office into the most energy efficient complex in the state. Jim’s wife wisely foresaw…

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