By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

LEBANON, Ohio — Campaign buttons, yard signs, bumper stickers, posters – they were all free for the taking at the Ohioans for Livestock Care/Yes for Issue 2 rally held in Warren County.

This was the second-to-last in a series of rallies held throughout the state to gain support for State Issue 2, a proposal on the Nov. 3 state ballot to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.
“We’ve got out supporters here, we’re going to mobilize them,” said Steve Caminati, campaign manager for Ohioans for Livestock Care.

“We have been preaching to the choir; it is time for them to sing to the congregation. We’re encouraging these people to talk to friends, families, go to the suburbs, go to the urban areas and get the word out.”

The grassroots effort in a campaign can never be underestimated, Caminati said.

The rallies have reached close to 1,000 people.

State Rep. Tim Derickson (R- District 53) told the group about the discussions that took place before the legislature passed a joint resolution authorizing a statewide ballot measure creating the state care standards board.

The idea was initiated by the Ohio Farm Bureau and all of the major commodity groups.

Prior to discussion all of the legislators in the House and the Senate met with these groups to understand the issue, Derickson said.

“That is why there was such overwhelming support in both the House and Senate,” he said. “It was nice to see both Republicans and Democrats feeling strongly that this board was important to both parties. It wasn’t a partisan issue at all.”
The legislators understood if they did not address the state constitution to create this board, the state’s largest industry could be hurt drastically, he said.

“We need to protect this industry, and that is not a Republican or Democratic thing,” said Derickson, who was a dairy farmer.
“It is, save an industry or not. For those of us who have been involved in agriculture in one way or another, it was the most encouraging debate that we have had in this General Assembly.”
Doug Dyer, another speaker who addressed the group, is president of the Brown County Farm Bureau and a vocational-ag instructor for 36 years.

“Who would’ve ever thought farmers would have to defend what they do?” he said. “We produce abundantly and without that abundance, people would be hungry.”

Issue 2 is not a family-farm versus big-farm issue, Dyer said. It is an animal care issue designed to prevent out-of-state people and politically active groups from coming into Ohio and making certain aspects of agricultural production managements illegal.
“The long and short of it is, like it or not, if you argue against the big farms you’re arguing for a scarcer, more expensive food supply,” he said.

Dyer encouraged the group to say something about Issue 2 every time they have the chance: Have your facts ready and be congenial, he said.

Finally, Ohio Farm Bureau Organiza-tional Director Christy Montoya encouraged attendees to take buttons, bumper stickers, posters and go to football games or wherever and “talk ‘til you’re blue in the face.”