Comments from the CEO

Chris Henney shares updates on your association

3^rd Quarter 2016 – 10/10/16

As summer turns into fall, the OABA office is also undergoing a change. Some of you may have seen the pictures through our social media posts. We are over a month into a construction project that, when completed, will provide us with additional office space for our expanded staff and a sizeable new conference room and other meeting space for our board, committees and members to use. Continuing daily operations through construction has been a challenge at times. Air compressor noise, drilling, dry wall dust, paint fumes and rolling electrical outages are a part of our daily routine. We have done our best to make sure you, our members, haven’t been impacted. But I know you hear the noise when you call into the office. I also know this will all be worth it when it’s done.

We were fortunate this summer. The annual algal bloom was much smaller in Lake Erie. Ohio agriculture and others in the Western Lake Erie Basin have been doing a good job of implementing the 4Rs and managing nutrient loss. Very little rainfall through the summer months was also helpful, but the cost of less rain is certainly being felt on farms this fall. OABA held our first ever 4R Technology Review in July in Paulding County. The event was a great success and, based on participant feedback, we are already thinking about how we can make this field day even more beneficial to members next year. The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program continues to grow! If you haven’t seen the Ohio’s Country Journal series on the 4Rs and the 4R certification program for agricultural retailers, you need to check it out. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with OCJ and their fine team on this project.

It seems we can’t go anywhere these days without hearing something about Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. We are both blessed and cursed in this great country of ours. The blessings are obvious to most of us; the curse? Well, we have to listen to endless political bantering, debates and those advertisements we all get so sick of by mid-October. Last month I was reminded that all this noise wasn’t a curse after all. I happened to be at The Fertilizer Institute’s World Fertilizer Conference during the first presidential debate. The folks at TFI organized a great reception and debate watching party for attendees. With folks from nearly 60 different countries in attendance, there were quite a few international guests watching the debate. As I observed the Russians glued to the television for the entire debate, I realized just how blessed we were to have the political process we have here in the United States, warts and all. I hope all of you get out to vote on November 8^th. There are some great tools available through The Fertilizer Institute’s 2016 Voter Tool Kit including a process to check your voter registration. You can check it all out here. To be eligible in the upcoming election in Ohio, you must be registered by Oct. 11^th.

We have a great lineup of winter events and activities again this year. Our programming covers every aspect of our industry and is designed to meet the training and development needs of our members’ employees. We’ll also be hosting a legislative event this winter at the Ohio Statehouse. This is a great opportunity for industry leaders to visit with legislators and share directly how legislation and regulation affect agribusiness in Ohio. I hope you all have Feb 1 – 2, 2017 held on your calendar for the OABA Industry Conference. We have a great program lined up and it is the best networking event of the winter for agribusiness professionals. More information on all our upcoming events can be found at oaba.net/events.

I spent a lot of time this summer out visiting members. It’s a great time of year to travel the state and the feedback I receive from these visits is extremely helpful as I work with our team to provide excellent service to the membership. I can’t get everywhere though, so don’t hesitate to contact me if you have ideas, concerns or issues. You can reach me at 614-326-7520 or chenney@oaba.net.

-Chris