Some final words…

By Matt Reese

“As I travel around the state, I have the great pleasure of working with some of the best people in the world — the farmers of Ohio.”

These are first words of the first Country Crossroads published in September of 1999. Since then, there have been many memorable happenings.

Crop genetics, biotech, and biologicals

The drought of 2024 made it very clear that the seeds planted in the ground last spring were a combination of a long series of miracles and agricultural innovations. Despite very tough growing conditions last year, those seeds still managed to produce strong — even excellent — yields in some cases. Without exception, every farmer I talked to said the same conditions 20, 10 or even just 5 years earlier would have had very different yield results. Plant breeding, biotech, and biologicals paid off in 2024 and have changed the world of row-crop production. Combined with improved farm management practices and an increased understanding of soil health, there have been incredible crop productivity increases in the last quarter century.

Precision ag/equipment technology

I did a story with a farmer in central Ohio who was among the first to equip his tractor with auto-steer. Many at the time questioned whether the investment was worthwhile. And, who in 1999 thought they’d see Dale Minyo riding in a driverless tractor pulling a grain cart in 2021? GPS, precision technology, planter technology, and other equipment innovation have allowed farmers to better manage their inputs than ever before.  

Ohio’s national leadership

Ohio agriculture may not be at the top of many production lists on a national level, but our state has long been a hotbed of national agricultural leadership. In 2001, Tony Anderson from Washington Court House was president of the American Soybean Association. In 2003, Fred Yoder from Plain City was president of the National Corn Growers Association. I met with both of these national leaders on Yoder’s farm, which kicked off a long list of stories I have written about Ohioans serving the nation’s farmers in a wide array of leadership roles.

The agreement

In a bold move, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) set out to regulate Ohio’s livestock farms through the ballot box in 2010. Proactively, in November of 2009, Ohioans overwhelmingly passed State Issue 2, a constitutional amendment requiring that the State of Ohio establish comprehensive livestock care standards.

Many months of battle preparations, emotional highs, frustration, anger, fundraising, and, ultimately, compromise, went into “the agreement” from Ohio’s agricultural leaders as the 2010 election drew near. In the end, HSUS agreed to drop their efforts in changing the Ohio Constitution for a seat at the table on the Livestock Care Standards Board. Many in Ohio ag were ready for a fight at the ballot box that fall, though, and frustrated about what seemed to many as Ohio agriculture giving up. But since 2011, Ohio’s Livestock Care Standards Board has set the bar for livestock care based on science and input from the full spectrum of stakeholders, effectively nullifying the initial efforts of HSUS to dictate Ohio’s farm practices through the ballot box.

Lake Erie battles

Looking back, there are only a couple of times where I remember where I was when I heard the news break. One of them was the drinking water ban in Toledo in the summer of 2014. Though water quality improvement was already an emphasis of Ohio agriculture at the time, this kicked off a political battle with many millions of dollars spent and finger pointing aplenty that continues today. In 2019, citizens of Toledo approved the truly bizarre Lake Erie Bill of Rights, which opened up the possibility of thousands of lawsuits against any entity that could be doing harm to Lake Erie, including agricultural operations. This was immediately followed up with a lawsuit from Wood County farmer Mark Drewes challenging the constitutionality and legal status of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, which ultimately worked out in favor of Drewes. Prior to that was the Gov. John Kasich water drama of 2018 with an executive order to take action on water quality in Lake Erie with Ohio’s agriculture in the crosshairs. After staunch agricultural opposition and some political wrangling on both sides of the issue, the debate was tabled until the start of the DeWine Administration. Now we have H2Ohio, which incentivizes water quality improvement efforts at the farm and local level.

Farmland preservation

Non-farm land uses are gobbling up more acres all the time. The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Office of Farmland Preservation assists farmers, landowners and local communities with their farmland preservation efforts in a number of ways, including easement programs which began in 2002. The integrity of the program was severely tested on the Bailey farm in a Union County court battle over a preserved property. The Baileys ultimately won the costly battle, but the preservation of farmland remains a most crucial issue for the future of agriculture in Ohio.

These are just a few of the many happenings that helped shape Ohio agriculture — and this Ohio agricultural writer — since 1999. I want to sincerely thank all who have taken the time to read this column over the years and the countless kind comments, phone calls, letters and emails that make this job rewarding. I have had the opportunity to share the stories of thousands of farm families and found that this original sentiment is still true — some of the best people in the world are the farmers of Ohio.

A note from the staff of OCJ: Thank you, Matt Reese, for 26 years of dedication to Ohio’s Country Journal. Readers may still see some of your content during the transition to a new editor. Sending our best wishes!