By DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Agriculture Director David Daniels has held his post since 2012, but on the morning of Oct. 19 he was summoned to Gov. John Kasich’s office, where he received a letter telling him he was being dismissed immediately.

Daniels said he received no explanation of the termination from Kasich’s lieutenants, but believes he was fired over his reservations about an executive order issued by Kasich on July 11 described as “aggressive new action” to require farmers to reduce the runoff of fertilizers that contribute to algae formations that foul western Lake Erie.

Daniels sided with Ohio farmers instead of Kasich in the matter concerning field runoff, and that, he claims, cost him his job. “Upon arrival (at Kasich’s office), I was informed that I serve at the pleasure of the governor, and my services would no longer be required,” he said.

“There are concerns the current proposal is unworkable,” said Daniels, referring to the fertilizer runoff requirements. “The Governor’s office was clear about the direction it wanted to go, and I expressed my concerns.”

Kasich signed the executive order that created tougher rules on farm runoff to keep nutrients that can cause algae blooms out of Lake Erie, but Daniels said he joined farmers in their reservations about it.

He pointed to a lack of information about what will work best to curtail fertilizer runoff into eight northwestern Ohio watersheds, including the Auglaize, Blanchard, St. Marys and Ottawa rivers.

“I tried to share those with staff, and ultimately the direction that is currently being considered is where they want to take it,” Daniels said.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) referred questions about Daniels’ departure to Kasich’s office, with gubernatorial spokesman Jon Keeling declining to comment. The termination letter dated Oct. 19 said Daniels’ “service is at an end effective immediately.”

“We all want the same thing,” Daniels said. “We all want clean water, and farmers want to be able to keep their nutrients on the ground. But there’s not enough available expertise, financial assistance and farm-specific information to help the owners of 7,000 farms come up with plans to manage and reduce fertilizer runoff, particularly phosphorus.”

Kasich, whose term is up at the end of this year, has been steadfast in his efforts against farm runoff and made it his bid to “kick runoff efforts into overdrive,” but those efforts have stalled before the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission. It has not acted on a necessary request to designate a portion of northwestern Ohio as “watersheds in distress” to move forward with the Governor’s directive.

A commission task force has scheduled a special meeting for this Thursday, at which it stated it will evaluate Kasich’s proposal to declare the waterways in distress. Daniels, however, said there is widespread opposition from farmers in the area.

“There has to be industry buy-in from Ohio’s agricultural interests to effectively reduce fertilizer runoff that can pollute Lake Erie drinking water and recreation,” he said. “Conservation efforts, such as planting winter cover crops, and planting buffer strips between fields and waterways, can help reduce runoff and should be pursued.”

Ohio Farm Bureau spokesman Joe Cornely said farmers have “expressed a lot of reservations about Kasich’s order and have tried to communicate to the administration what those reservations are.

“There’s a lack of solid, reliable data on what steps actually will work,” he added. “The problem with the Governor’s order is that it throws out all these steps to be taken, but we don’t know if it will work. There’s no doubt that Dave Daniels had the best interests of Ohio agriculture in mind.”

“The fact is this is not against agriculture, but the truth is we also cannot continue to damage Lake Erie – it’s one of our crown jewels,” Kasich told the Columbus Dispatch. “We know this garbage flows into that lake and we’re saying, ‘Farmers, let’s come up with a plan, let’s figure this out.’ It’s not like we’re trying to shut you down or anything.”

Fred Cash, chair of the commission’s task force, said recommendations, studies and public comments will be discussed. The full commission will meet Nov. 1 to either vote on Kasich’s request or continue the matter for further study, he said.

According to the ODA website, Tim Derickson has been appointed to interim director. He has served as the department’s assistant director since April 2017.

“As a farmer, businessperson, member of the Ohio House of Representatives and as part of our administration, Tim has always demonstrated the integrity, loyalty and command of the issues that are the hallmark of a natural leader,” Kasich stated in a news release.