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Nutrient Management Updates

By Chris Henney, OABA President & CEO

A lot is happening in Ohio right now related to nutrient management and water quality. The state just released the Ohio Phosphorous Phase II report (click here to see separate story); the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is convening a Technical Advisory Group to determine nutrient standards for Ohio’s waters; Senate Bill 150, the fertilizer and nutrient management bill, is soon to be passed out of the Ohio Senate and begin hearings in the Ohio House of Representatives; and finally, the 4R Retailer Certification program is through the pilot stage and will be launched early next year. OABA is engaged with all of these activities and the extent of the activity often has me feeling like the proverbial one-armed paper hanger! Fortunately, we have some great individuals from our member companies who are engaged on behalf of both OABA and the industry in general. They are doing a great job representing our interests.

Senate Bill 150 has come a long way from the original bill that was drafted months ago, and while it is still not perfect legislation, it is better and will continue to evolve over the coming weeks. This past week I had the opportunity to provide Interested Party testimony (click here to view the testimony) to the Senate Agriculture Committee. The Ohio Soybean Council and the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association also provided Interested Party testimony.

As activity continues on these issues, we will continue to keep you abreast through regular updates in OABA News & Notes. In the meantime, don’t ever hesitate to contact me to ask questions, share input or just discuss the issues. I welcome the member involvement.

Chris can be reached at chenney@oaba.net or 614-326-7520 (option two). 

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