Ohio Needs Livestock and Poultry Farmers: Campaign Launched to Raise Awareness about Livestock, Poultry Industry

COLUMBUS, OH - Calling it the fuel that drives Ohio’s economic engine, members of several leading Ohio agricultural organizations have launched a campaign to heighten awareness about the state’s robust livestock and poultry industry.

“The importance of our livestock and poultry industry to Ohio’s economy and its future overall cannot be overstated,” David White, executive director for the Ohio Livestock Coalition (http://www.ohiolivestock.org)), says. “While the contributions of many industries to our state’s economy are well publicized, it’s time to recognize what Ohio’s livestock and poultry farmers bring to our dinner tables, as well as our wallets, every day.”

The OLC is leading the public education campaign along with the support of farmers' check-off dollars from the Ohio Soybean Council and other farm and commodity organizations that belong to the coalition, which are helping fund the effort.

The informational campaign will consist of a series of ads placed in targeted publications and on billboards throughout Ohio. The ads carry the tagline, “Ohio needs livestock and poultry farmers,” and illustrate the connection between farmers and the tax revenue they help generate, which totals more than $229 million annually.

To support his statement about the role that livestock and poultry production plays in Ohio’s economy, White points to the fact that the state’s livestock industry pours more than $8 billion into the state’s economy every year. The contributions are realized on the employment side, too, as more than 47,000 jobs in Ohio are dependent upon the livestock and poultry industry.

“Poultry producers also represent a significant part of our economy,” White says. “They are the top customer of soybean meal and corn, and take in some 335,000 tons of soybean meal every year to feed their layers, turkeys and broilers.” Plus, White adds that they account for 35 percent of the corn used for livestock feed annually in the state.

White says the contributions of the livestock and poultry industry are not always evident because the overall production process tends to be overlooked. “The dollars that producers generate by their labor do not start and end on their farms,” White explains. “The entire production process, which extends to the communities where the people who work for the industry live and raise their families, is part of the billion-dollar equation.”

White says this is one case where size really doesn’t matter. “Ohio needs all sizes of farms, big as well as small and medium, to support its growing livestock and poultry industry, as well as corn and soybean farmers.” What matters most, White explains, is that producers in all commodities practice the basic rules of good farm management: Play by the rules and be a good neighbor.

White also says he is confident that the laws currently on the books are more than adequate to protect Ohio’s environment. “We always have backed efforts that make farming environmentally friendly,” White says. “Furthermore, we will continue to cooperate with economically sound programs that protect and improve the environment. Livestock and poultry farmers live and work on this earth, too, and simply stated, it’s too important for the sake of our generation and for generations to come.”

The future of Ohio’s economy likely rests on the growth and vitality of the industry’s ability to open new markets for U.S. corn and soybean meal, according to White, which he notes benefits both livestock producers and grain farmers.

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