Advocacy Update: Manure Management & Water Quality

The mission of ODPA is simple: to serve as a collective voice for Ohio’s dairy farmers to address state and federal issues related to animal care, the environment, GMO labeling, school meals, trade, transportation, energy and taxes that affect Ohio’s dairy farm families.

Manure management and water quality are top of mind right now in Ohio. To protect Ohio’s dairy farm families, ODPA is:

• Providing dairy farmer input and leadership to the Ohio Agriculture Conservation Initiative. ODPA was
  instrumental in the development of OACI, which will help farmers finance innovative water quality and soil health best management practices through the DeWine Administration’s H2Ohio initiative. OACI is an collaborative effort of the agricultural, conservation, environmental, and research communities to improve water quality by establishing a baseline understanding of current conservation and nutrient management efforts and building farmer participation in a new certification program.

• Assisting farmers in acquiring funding assistance for manure storage and manure transporta􀆟on equipment needed to meet compliance with the new Ohio nutrient management laws.
  
  
• Investigating new technologies and innovative systems to manage manure and acquire H2Ohio funding for assistance.
  
  
• Representing dairy farmers on the Harmful Algae Bloom Research Initiative to ensure that reasonable and scientifically-based methods are used to determine the projected effect of manure best management practices.

Click here to learn more about ODPA's advocacy efforts.