Ohio currently has a very tight job market. Many dairy farms are having difficulty finding an adequate number of qualified employees. An expanding livestock farm or a large livestock farm new to a community is likely to face especially difficult hiring problems. As a consequence most large livestock farms will consider both local people and people new to the community in filling positions.
Large livestock farms are likely to turn to recruitment of employees from other areas of the United States or from other countries (e.g., migrants) when they are unable to find local people to fill all their positions at economically justifiable wage rates. Success in hiring local people will depend on such things as wages and benefits, job descriptions, length of work week, work schedule, flexibility in work schedule, working conditions, orientation and training programs, communication, sense of importance to the business, opportunities for advancement, and reputation in the community as a desirable place to work.
There are still approximately 100,000 commercial dairy farms operating in the United States. Of those, more than 99.5 percent are family owned. Interestingly, the same is true of large dairy farms. Of farms with more than 200 cows, more than 99 percent are owned by families or small family corporations. Characteristics of Ohio dairy farms are similar to those that describe farms in the United States.
There are actually two parts to this question. The first one is why are farmers in the Netherlands leaving their country? The second part is why are they choosing Ohio?
The Netherlands covers an area equal to 40% that of Ohio. Yet, its population of 18 million people is approximately 50% larger than that of Ohio. Additionally, there are approximately six times more dairy cows in the Netherlands than in Ohio. Needless to say, land is getting very scarce and expensive. Additionally, the Dutch government has agreed to new European Union regulations aimed at reducing by 25% the animal population over a period of ten years. Hence, it is now nearly impossible for a Dutch dairy farm to increase its size to bring their sons and daughters into the operations. Consequently, many Dutch farmers are selling their farms in their homeland and are relocating their families in other countries, primarily Canada, New Zealand, France, East Germany, Poland, Portugal, and the United States.
Within the United States, the eastern cornbelt is rapidly becoming an area of choice for Dutch farmers. The climate is similar to that of their homeland. Agronomic resources (soil, air, and water) are generally very favorable to milk production. Dutch churches have been established in some locations. Ohio is a milk deficient state (more milk processed and consumed than produced) and many of its processors are looking for additional milk to provide the dairy products consumed by its growing population.
If the dairy developer works with and cooperates with local economic development professionals and state economic development specialists, the cost to the community will be zero. The reason is the ability to utilize Tax Increment Financing (TIF) or enterprise zone programs that set aside NEW tax dollars from real property improvement. Thus, without the dairy project, the increase in taxes will not materialize. Next, the state has infrastructure grant programs available to assist communities in improving publicly owned roads, and water or sewer infrastructure. These programs facilitate lowering the amount required for local dollars to improve infrastructure, resulting in leveraging of additional local tax funds.
No, the available structure being recommended for large livestock farms is a tax redirection through a negotiated TIF or Enterprise Zone (EZ) Agreement. The farm pays the same dollar amount that the taxes would normally be, but the dollars are dedicated to specific categories: to help the County Engineer and Township Trustees fund road improvements and/or help the local school district. If dollars are directed towards the school system, a gift in lieu of taxes must be used to protect the school from lost State revenue. This prevents the State from lowering the amount of money sent to the local school district based on its State formula for funding.
Schools gain revenue if an agreement with the dairy farm is negotiated that allows for a 100% agreement with a gift back to the school. If an agreement is arranged, the school system continues to receive the State formula dollars, plus the gift funds. If no agreements are created, the school sees roughly a zero increase in revenue even though the local tax revenues increase significantly because of the farm's presence. All school districts are presently penalized by the state with a reduction of State formula dollars for any income increase in their real property tax stream. People opposing new livestock TIF or enterprise zone agreements are causing the loss of potential income to their school districts, rather than causing financial harm to the farm owners.
There is no scientific study that supports a certain "yes" or "no" answer to this question. Large farms could even increase land value. The key element to keep in mind is to recognize that locating a large dairy next door doesn't automatically translate to lower values for neighboring properties. Values could increase because of higher value products and lower costs of production. Value could decline because of poor neighbor relations and inept farm managers. Values could remain unchanged because neighbors choose to and fulfill their obligation to treat each other, their community, and their surrounding natural resource base with the respect each deserves in a civil society.
If local farmers receive threats or experience vandalism, how should they proceed to report such occurrences to authorities?
Farmers should report threats and vandalism to law enforcement authorities. In terms of threats, they need to write down as much detail as possible about the probable time and circumstances. The same holds true for vandalism. The goal is to help law enforcement understand the seriousness of the incidents, possibly identify a pattern (because most threats and vandalism are not committed by a perpetrator only one time, but many times), and seek to catch the perpetrators.
Second, farmers should share information with trusted neighbors. Rural law enforcement resources are spread thinly in open-country areas, and neighbors are very important for helping to maintain surveillance of property and for reporting suspicious activities.
Dairy farmers can establish good relations with neighbors with some of the following strategies:
Editors
Maurice L. Eastridge, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University
Suzanne Steel, Director of College Communications, Communications and Technology, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University
Technical contributors
Don Clark, Ohio Department of Economic Development
Maurice L. Eastridge, Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University
Bernard Erven, Professor, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University
Allan Lines, Professor, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University
David Patton, Associate Professor, Community Development, Ohio State University Extension
Normand St-Pierre, Associate Professor, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University
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Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director, OSU Extension.
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