Touring Champaign County Farms

Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, reaches to pet a cow at Dugan Road Creamery as owner Joyce Nelson stands by. Photos by Christopher Selmek | Urbana Daily Citizen

By Christopher Selmek, Urbana Daily Citizen
Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, visited three Champaign County Farms on Thursday and ended her tour at the first Movie on the Farm at Pretty Prairie Farm. Her escort, Marcia Bailey, director of Champaign Economic Partnership, said she arranged this tour in cooperation with the Champaign County Agriculture Association to highlight nontraditional agriculture in the county. The tour was scheduled to begin at Dragonfly Vineyard & Wine Center, 710 W. Herr Road, in the north part of the county, but this stop was canceled because Pelanda was on the phone with Gov. Mike DeWine discussing the recent flooding of multiple farms around Ohio due to heavy rain.

Touring Freshwater Farms of Ohio on Thursday are, from left, Marcia Bailey, director of Champaign Economic Partnership; Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture; Dr. Dave Smith, owner of Freshwater Farms; and Kirby Brandenbury of U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan’s office.

Pelanda got back on schedule during her visit to Freshwater Farms of Ohio, 2624 N. U.S. Route 68, just north of Urbana.

She next visited Champaign Berry Farm, 5676 E. state Route 29, then Dugan Road Creamery, 1751, S. Dugan Road. She finally joined local farmers at Pretty Prairie Farm, 4440 Prairie Road, to make a few comments before returning to her home in Marysville.

“I live on the family farm in Marysville where I was raised, and growing up on that farm the issues of water and soil conservation, invasive species and wildlife management were things that my mom and my dad and my brothers and sisters lived every day,” she said.

Observing perch at Freshwater Farms of Ohio are, from left, Marcia Bailey, director of Champaign Economic Partnership; Kirby Brandenbury, of U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan’s office; Dr. Dave Smith, owner of Freshwater Farms; and Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Photos by Christopher Selmek | Urbana Daily Citizen

“And so I come to this job with a real passion and understanding for continuing to do that.”

Speaking for a few minutes before the movie “Farmers for America,” Pelanda said that she and DeWine are concerned about the ongoing wet season.

“We have had an unbelievable year,” she said.

“It really started with last fall, and so last Friday I worked with Gov. DeWine to send a letter to (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Secretary (Sonny) Perdue, asking the secretary of our federal government to declare Ohio a disaster area so that farmers can begin filing claims with the local (Farm Service Agency) offices.

Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture speaks at the beginning of the first Movie on the Farm at Pretty Prairie Farm on Thursday.

This is the first step in a many-step process toward helping farmers get the aid they need.

Someone asked me today where the worst part of this is, and I would be hard pressed to tell you because the governor and I were in Perrysburg yesterday in northwest Ohio, tomorrow we’re going to be in Darke County, and everywhere, from wherever I drive to wherever I go, our farms are under water.

Dorothy Pelanda, director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, listens to Champaign Berry Farm owner Mike Pullins after picking berries in the field.

“These issues crisscross all aspects of agribusinesses,” she continued. “Co-ops are suffering because they have no grain or no corn to sell. Fertilizer companies aren’t selling fertilizer. Farm machinery companies aren’t selling machinery. Livestock farmers have not been able to spread manure since last October, and we’ve been helping them with money to build emergency lagoons and manure storage sheds.

Also, livestock farmers are telling me they’re not going to have silage to feed their livestock, and they don’t know what they’re going to do.

“The best news is that we have a governor who is a farmer,” she added.

“I’ve visited his farm in Cedarville many times and I’ve met the familythat farms his farm, and believe me that farmer is in Gov. DeWine’s ear every single day talking to him about the real issues on Gov. DeWine’s farm itself, but also the issues statewide. So Gov. DeWine has farmers in his heart and in his mind every day as he goes about the state doing the business of the state of Ohio.”

Touring Champaign County farms
At Pelanda’s first stop at Freshwater Farms of Ohio she met owner Dr. Dave Smith, who walked her past a series of fish tanks, some containing fish you could pet or feed. Inside one building he said that each tank contained 4,600 perch at a time and that the crowded school makes the fish feel more at ease.

Smith also explained his RAINBOW - Routing And Integrating Nutrient Byproducts Of Wastewater - program through which he recycles water to irrigate six acres of field to grow melons, pumpkins, bell peppers and tomatoes. With his background in ecology he has fostered a diverse ecosystem of insects that naturally prevents any one pest species from gaining an advantage, making pesticides unnecessary.

Pelanda encouraged Smith to set aside acreage to grow hemp, saying that the governor will be signing a bill later this summer authorizing her, as the director of agriculture, to grant farmers licenses to grow hemp with almost no restrictions.

“Hearing Dave talk about his passion and his vision for what he wants to do in the future with hydroponics and aquaponics is really exciting,” she said prior to the film. “We then moved to Mike (Pullins) and Cathy’s Berry Farm, and in the misty rain we picked some beautiful red and black raspberries, and what a treasure that is going to be to take home to my husband tonight.”

After picking berries, Pelanda sat on an EZ-Go cart with Mike as he explained his farming methods. He said that pick-your-own raspberry season was to begin today and invited area residents to the farm at 5676 E. state Route 29.

According to Pullins, the first berries available will be red raspberries, but black raspberries would likely be available next week.

Pelanda was joined at this stop by Melinda Lee, organization director of the Champaign County Farm Bureau.

Lee gave Pelanda a bottle of wine on behalf of Dragonfly Vineyard.

Finally, Pelanda visited Dugan Road Creamery and was guided through the process of making yogurt. Owner Joyce Nelson said one cow drinks an average of 50 gallons of water and produces 145 pounds of milk every day. Pelanda watched owner Chris Nelson operate a pasteurizing machine that can produce one pound of cheese from a gallon of milk, or four gallons of yogurt from five gallons of milk. “Our final stop was at a unique dairy farm, and it was just wonderful because from cow to yogurt we got to see the process from finish to end, so it was a very memorable visit,” Pelanda said of the visit prior to the film.

For more information about any of the farms on this tour, contact the CEP at 937-653-7200.

Christopher Selmek can be reached at 937-508-2304.