How To Make Government Work for Agriculture
November 15, 2023 As part of my research for the Ramseyer Farms article, this month’s American Vegetable Grower cover story, I spoke with Jessica Eikleberry, Farmland Preservation Specialist in Wayne County, OH, where the farm is located. Her title lives up to her main purpose — helping farmers conserve their land, keeping it in agricultural use. She wears another hat, too — participating in the county’s Ag Success Team. When she described its role, I couldn’t help but wonder why every farming county in the U.S. doesn’t have such a team.
The Ag Success Team brings together everyone who interacts with farmers on a county level, including farmers themselves. This group makes sure everyone from the water board and other key government groups — Extension, economic development groups, suppliers, and so on — coordinate on anything that impacts the county’s farms.
The team meets regularly, reviewing anything one member’s organization is developing that may impact farms. The others discuss how it works or conflicts with other programs in existence and brainstorm solutions where conflicts arise. And farmers are welcomed to the table.
The aim is to work holistically on behalf of the ag industry. It’s a fantastic concept.
I’m sure if I sat down with different growers in Wayne County, I’d hear a range of opinions on the group. After all, they aren’t getting rid of regulations, rather coordinating their efforts with one another to avoid confusion and overlap.
This kind of group doesn’t necessarily include national-level programs like food safety inspections or customer inspectors. But it can weigh what these outside groups are doing in its own decision making.
Throughout my career, I’ve heard owners complain about broken systems. Different inspectors would come onto a property with demands that often conflicted with another inspector’s rule. Unnecessary hoops and headaches reigned.
Putting aside all the jokes about inefficient and useless committees, this is one group committee that works. Consider approaching different groups in your community about creating a similar board.
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