CFFPI - Ohio's Dairy Industry: The Geography and Impact of a Key
Sector
A collaborative project through the Ohio State
University's Social
Responsibility Initiative with
the Center for Farmland Policy Innovation
September 2008
Download - Full Report (*.pdf)
This report examines the current state of the dairy
industry in Ohio, including the relatively recent phenomenon of concentrated
animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Ohio ranks eleventh in the nation for milk
production, which, not only contributes significantly to the agricultural
sector, but to Ohio’s economy. Most Ohio dairies are clustered in the northeast
and northwest part of the state. However, large dairies are mainly clustered in
the northwest and a few are scattered around Central Ohio, perhaps in avoidance
of large population centers. As this dynamic industry continues to contribute
significant income to the state’s economy, having knowledge of the economics of
the dairy industry, its geography and its regulatory environment, helps policy
makers and other stakeholders make more informed decisions. Below are just a few
highlights from this report. The remainder of the report addresses the
significance of the Ohio dairy sector within the state and across the nation,
the geography of dairy production in the state, the status of CAFOs, and the
regulatory environment.
Report Highlights
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As Ohio’s
leading industry, the contribution of agriculture to the overall State
economy is significant.
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Dairy is a
very important subsector, according to one ranking it accounts for one third
of the State’s total agricultural income.
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Ohio has a
relatively high number of dairy operations, ranking fifth in the nation with
4400.
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Further,
Ohio ranks high on a number of other indicators on dairy. Ohio ranks first
in Swiss cheese, eighth in overall cheese (excluding cottage cheese), fifth
in manufactured dairy products, sixth in milk sherbet, tenth in ice cream
and cottage cheese, and eleventh in milk production.
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Since the
1970s, the structure of the U.S. dairy industry has changed dramatically,
with farms becoming larger and more specialized.
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Ohio’s
dairy structure is changing slower compared to that of the nation as a
whole, but the directional change is similar in Ohio to that of the rest of
the nation becoming larger and producing more milk per cow.
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Dairies
are classified according to herd size with the largest being classified as
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
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In the
early 1970s the U S Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency began a permitting process for CAFOs. In
2000, the State of Ohio’s permitting program for CAFOs was transferred by
the Ohio General Assembly to the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA).
However, dairy farms that discharge or plan to discharge must obtain a
federal permit – a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES)
– from the Ohio EPA until the U.S. EPA approves transferring the federal
program to ODA.
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This type
of permitting is only one piece of the regulatory environment for Ohio
dairies. All Ohio dairies are subject to voluntary participation in the
pollution prevention programs implemented by a myriad of Federal and State
agencies.
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As of
December 2007, 41,517 of Ohio’s estimated 276,000 cows were housed in
permitted dairies (CAFEEOs).
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Opposition
to larger dairy farms – as well as larger livestock farms in general, some
of which are not large enough to be classified as a CAFO – has resulted in
the formation of local advocacy groups that oppose the siting of such farms.
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Analysis
illustrates that only 0.09% of Ohioans live within one mile of a permitted
dairy (greater than 699 head) and only 1.47% within five miles of a
permitted dairy. When examining all large dairies (greater than 599 head),
only 2.67% of Ohioans live within five miles of any large dairy (permitted
and non-permitted). In addition, all large dairies are, on average, 20.9
miles away from the edge of the closest major urbanized area.
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Traditionally, dairy farms are concentrated in Northeastern and Northwestern
Ohio.
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However,
large dairies are clustered in Northwestern Ohio and widely dispersed in
Central Ohio.
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Many
owners of these large dairies are foreign-born with Dutch ancestry. Of the
31 permitted and pending permitted large dairies or CAFEOs, 24 have
foreign-born owners with Dutch ancestry. Of the six large, non-permitted
dairies (600-699 head), all have foreign-born owners with Dutch ancestry. A
driving force behind the siting of these dairies is the Vreba-Hoff Dairy
Development firm.
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The
industry continues to move into a bi-model or bifurcated structure – with
larger, newer farms concentrating in the Northwest and Central Ohio (many of
these farmers are foreign born with Dutch ancestry) and smaller,
grazing-oriented farms in the Holmes, Wayne, Richland, Knox, Geauga,
Ashtabula and Ashland County areas (many of these farmers are Mennonite or
Amish).
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For Ohio,
the outlook for the dairy industry is promising. While the dairy industry
is not static, meaning that structural change and changes in markets will
occur, the State does have a strong dairy infrastructure, particularly in
the northern portion of the State.
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For
smaller farmers, new emerging organic and locally-branded markets are
opening. But with these emerging markets, come new industry debates, such
as proper labeling of milk and selling of raw milk from farm units.
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Debates on
large farms abound, particularly regarding the role, or lack thereof, of
local governments in the permitting (and therefore, siting) process. One
response of local governments to its role in the siting of large farms is to
attempt to affect dairy locations through a local zoning ordinance and the
building permit process. In May 2008 these issue were addressed by the
courts and local governments cannot use zoning and building permits to
regulation the location of large farms.
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