2-day event centers around Wayne County’s ag economy
Dr. Shoshanah Inwood of Ohio State’s School for Environment and Natural Resources speaks at the Century Barn in Orrville as part of the recent two-day event hosted by OSU and Wayne County partners about value-added agriculture.
In late October Ohio State University hosted a two-day event bringing together Wayne County partners to empower the economy through value-added agriculture. Activities included a bus tour of the county’s value-added food and agriculture sector, as well as a presentation by Julia Freedgood of American Farmland Trust, who flew in from Massachusetts for the event.
The events were part of the three-year Pathways to Prosperity Project, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Our objective is creating economic and community development through food and agriculture," said Dr. Shoshanah Inwood of OSU’s School for Environment and Natural Resources, one of the co-leads on the project. "In other words, how do we create rural wealth through value-added agriculture?”
Traditional economic development often focuses more heavily on investment in retention and expansion of manufacturing businesses. In Wayne County, agricultural and manufacturing merge within value-added agriculture. It provides a dual benefit to the county’s economy, first by supporting farm incomes and then by supporting manufacturing jobs through the food processing.
Freedgood pointed out in her presentation that OSU completed a total economic impact assessment a few years ago of Wayne County. They showed a $1.2 billion agricultural economic impact, making agricultural production 21% of the county's economy and 15% of county jobs.
“This in not including food and beverage, so I think they low-balled the numbers,” Freedgood said.
Showcasing Wayne’s value-added agriculture
The two-day event took place Oct. 25-26.
The first day of the event included a tour to 3-D Meats, Mt. Hope Produce Auction, Moreland Fruit Farm and Green Fields Farm. Approximately 30 participants joined the tour including community leaders, elected officials, farmers, business owners and researchers. One was Doug Jackson-Smith, also a professor in OSU’s SENR.
For Jackson-Smith, the stop on the tour that most stood out was 3-D Meats.
“They are really invested in a business model of doing custom processing of pork and beef products," Jackson-Smith said of the owners of 3-D Meats. "I study agriculture and see the big trends in agriculture around consolidation.
“The market for locally or regionally processed meat is one of the areas where there is a lot of opportunity for livestock producers. They fill a niche that probably gives them a competitive advantage compared to being just a commodity producer on the national market.”
The second day hosted about 40 participants for a lunch, a presentation with Freedgood and a group discussion about opportunities and challenges.
Opportunities for value-added agriculture
According to Freedgood, an analysis showed 81% of Wayne County's land is nationally significant farmland, which is the most productive, versatile and resilient land.
"You are really sitting on a national treasure. And I know people in the county really care about farmland, but it's also threatened," Freedgood said.
Wayne County leads the state of Ohio in dairy production and is third in the state for the total value of agricultural production. The local food economy also is booming, as defined by the amount of direct farm sales to consumers.
"For a rural county, you have a very diversified local food economy. You're number one in the state," Freedgood said.
However, only around 9% or 10% of farmers sell direct-to-consumer, so there is room for growth.
Challenges for family farms
Farmland preservation in the face of rising land values was among the top challenges discussed.
"Land values spiked during COVID. We do not know exactly what is causing this. When farmers are saying land values are through the roof, they aren't exaggerating. They really are," Freedgood said.
Lindsay Tournoux, director of the Wayne County Farm Bureau, said the issue of farmland preservation in the context of land use and development was a big topic at their annual meeting this year. While there are tools to help preserve farmland, ultimately, it is the decision and responsibility of the farmer.
Others in the audience noted examples of farmers who felt the need to sell their farmland for development to be able to afford to retire. And challenges around succession planning were mentioned more than once, meaning the process of the older generation of farm owners passing along the land and ownership of the farm to the next generation.
It also was stated more than once that people are the greatest asset in the community and that more information-sharing will help the agricultural economy overcome challenges and continue to thrive.
“You plan for agriculture, not around it,” Freedgood said.
Local partners who sponsored the event included Wayne County Farm Bureau, Local Roots, OSU Wayne County Extension, OSU-OARDC, FoodSphere, Plain Partners and Wayne Economic Development Council, which provided additional funding to sponsor the bus tour. Moreland Fruit Farm donated the mums that decorated the Century Barn in Orrville, where the presentation and lunch took place on day two of the event.