US: Ohio State to Hold 2013-2014 Agricultural Policy and Outlook Conference Series Statewide

Growers and producers will find that despite the fact that cropland inOhio increased in value in 2012 and 2013, those values are expected to remainflat or even decline in 2014, an economist fromOhio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and EnvironmentalSciences (CFAES) said.

Barry Ward, productionbusiness management leader for Ohio State University Extension, spoke Nov. 25during the college’s kickoff of its 2013-2014 Agricultural Policy andOutlook series.The event initiates a series of local meetings to be held statewide through theend of the year.

OSUExtension is the outreach arm of the college.

Ward,along with several others of the college’s agricultural economists will present their findings and their economic outlookfor the coming year during a series of countywide meetings this month aspart of the college’s conference series.

Themeetings will feature presentations by experts from thecollege's Department of Agricultural, Environmental and DevelopmentEconomics on matters the of agricultural community should expect in 2014,including policy changes, key issues and market behaviour with respect to farm,food and energy resources, and the environment.

Inaddition to Ward, speakers for the series will include:

Carl Zulauf, a farm policy expert who willdiscuss differences in the U.S. House and Senate versions of the Farm Bill
Mark Partridge, a regional economicsexpert who will discuss the outlook for economic growth in Ohio and the U.S.for 2014
Ian Sheldon, an international tradeexpert who will discuss the changing economy of China and the impact on itsrole in the global economy
Brent Sohngen, an environmentaleconomist who will discuss new models for managing phosphorus emissions
Cameron Thraen, a dairy expert who willdiscuss Farm Bill dairy safety net alternatives
Matt Roberts, a grain economist who willdiscuss his outlook for the 2014 grain market

Themeetings, which are open to the public, will be held on the following datesstatewide throughout December:

Dec. 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fisher Auditorium at the Ohio Agricultural Research andDevelopment Centre, 1680 Madison Ave. in Wooster
Dec. 12 from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. atthe Bellevue VFW Hall, 6104 U.S. Route 20, inBellevue
Dec. 13 from 11a.m. to 3 p.m. at the MetroParks Farm, 7574 Columbiana-Canfield Road inCanfield
Dec. 16 at 10a.m. at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Club, 400 East Lake Drive in Ashland
Dec. 16 at 4:30p.m. at the Attica Fairgrounds, Social Hall, 15131 E. Township Road 12 inAttica
Dec. 17 at 5:30p.m. at the Miami ValleyCareer Technology Centre, 6801 Hoke Road in Clayton
Dec. 18 from 7:30to 10:30 a.m. at the Circleville Presbyterian Church, 134 E. Mound St. inCircleville
Dec. 18 fromnoon to 4 p.m. at the OSU Extension office, 111 Nelson Ave., in Wilmington
Dec. 18 from 6to 9 p.m. at the Union County Services Building, 940 London Ave., in Marysville
Dec. 19 from 10a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wood County Fairgrounds, Junior Fair Building, 13800 WestPoe Road in Bowling Green
Dec. 19 from5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Jewell Community Centre, 7900 Independence Road, inJewell
Dec. 20 from 8to 10 a.m. at the Fairfield County Agriculture Centre, 831 College Ave. inLancaster

Someof the meetings require registration and payment and may include a lunch ordinner. For more information or to register, go to http://go.osu.edu/2014outlook. Moreinformation including policy briefs and presentation files from each of thepresenters can also be found at http://aede.osu.edu/policy-outlook.