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Ohio Farm Bureau members are discussing top priorities in Washington DC
Ohio Farm Bureau members are discussing issues that impact their farms and communities in Washington DC this week.
Northeastern Ohio Farmer Mary Smallsreed says broadband is critical to her operation.
“I’m in an area where I’m near my county seat but yet I don’t have reliable service in my home,” she says. “My kids are grown and in college, but a family that has kids in high school that have to submit homework using the internet and if they don’t have reliable internet they can’t do their work…it’s putting rural kids at a disadvantage.”
She says rural broadband could also help communities address mental health issues. Smallsreed is the president of Trumbell County. She was raised on a dairy farm and currently has a grain farm.
North Central Ohio Farmer Eric Grim grazes and milks Jersey and Guernsey cows and says water quality is top of mind for him.
“Even though we’re not part of the Maumee Watershed, the Black River Watershed and the Vermillion Watershed are top events,” he says. “We just had a cover crop event in our home county this week, so our farm bureau board is very active in these issues and is proactive.”
Grim is president of Loraine County. His operation is a seasonal grass-based dairy and they’ve been grazing since 1988.
Ohio Farm Bureau members will meet with lawmakers to discuss these issues Thursday on the hill.
