Ohio’s largest agricultural group said Friday it is committing $1 million toward a statewide plan that will show farmers, especially those in the Maumee River watershed, how they can reduce farm runoff that feeds western Lake Erie’s toxic algae with fertilizers made of phosphorus and nitrogen.
“We’ve got a role in fixing the problem,” Joe Cornely, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation spokesman, said. “We want the public to know we hear you. The status quo is not acceptable.”
In a related matter, Mr. Cornely said a fertilizer applicator certification class offered by Ohio State University Extension Friday at Historic Sauder Village in Fulton County drew 350 participants, nearly twice as many as expected.
“It tells me farmers are interested in stepping up to the plate,” Mr. Cornely said.
The Farm Bureau’s decision to commit $1 million toward a statewide management plan was made Sept. 4 by the group’s board of directors during a special meeting held on a conference call.
Though not exclusively a reaction to the Toledo water crisis of early August, which left 500,000 metro residents without safe tap water for three days, the effort is largely in response to that, the group said in a statement.
“They placed special emphasis on the western Lake Erie basin,” the statement said.
Another major body of water that will be given attention will be Grand Lake St. Marys, the largest inland body of water completely within Ohio’s borders.
Through the plan, the Farm Bureau said it will help qualifying farmers in the western Lake Erie basin obtain fertilizer certification by April 22, which is Earth Day.
That would bring farmers into compliance 29 months ahead of a state deadline under a new law approved by the Ohio General Assembly earlier this year.
The group also said it will use the plan to help individual farmers in the western Lake Erie watershed create nutrient-management plans that will promote better fertilizer use by Earth Day 2016. That effort exceeds state requirements, the group said.
The Farm Bureau said it is seeking a “high degree of cooperation and collaboration with farmers,” and that it is working with several other groups and agencies to curb runoff, including the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio State University’s college of food, agricultural, and environmental sciences, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service.
The Farm Bureau also said it will increase its commitment to Healthy Water Ohio, a broad coalition of conservation, business, university, water suppliers, tourism, public health, and farm interests that are developing a long-range strategy to address water resources.
“Preserving Ohio’s water quality is a serious issue and these are serious responses,” John C. Fisher, the Farm Bureau’s executive vice president, said.
He cited combined sewer overflows, lawn and parking lot runoff, invasive species, weather events, and other issues as contributing factors, but said farmers “are willing to do their fair share.”
“There are few quick fixes, no inexpensive answers. But we have to start now,” Mr. Fisher said.
“We have to find solutions that protect our water, preserve our ability to grow food, and help our state’s businesses and communities.”
The Farm Bureau has 206,000 members.
The Ohio Farmers Union said Thursday it is holding a Sept. 22 forum on algal blooms at Forrester’s on the River, 26 Main St., in East Toledo.
That event, which begins at 1 p.m., is free.
To RSVP, email Linda Borton, lborton@ohfarmers-union.org.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.
First Published September 13, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
