This month’s member spotlight is on Scott Myers of Woodlyn Acres Farm in Dalton, Ohio. Scott is a 4th generation farmer who didn’t start out in farming, but rather as a vocal music major at OSU before changing his major to economics.

Scott Myers after meeting with his Congressman’s office during the 2023 OFA Farmer Fly-In.

That was a wise choice as Scott’s studies helped him solve the puzzle of how to help make his family’s farm more profitable, and the answer was in hay.

Wayne County, where Scott’s farm is located, is the largest dairy area in the state, and where there’s dairy, there should be hay. However, area farmers were getting a lot of their hay from outside the region instead of locally. So hay was grown and the farm grew too. Today the farm is home to a rotation of 8-10 crops.

Scott’s organic journey began when the local dairies started transitioning to organic. One season, a few of Scott’s customers canceled their orders when they needed to find new organic suppliers. This tale could have taken a turn for the worse, but those dairies instead came to Scott to ask if he’d consider growing some organic hay for their operation. And so, the gradual transition to organic was underway. Scott’s farm was in a great position to transition since he already used regular crop rotations and chicken manure as fertilizer. Today, Scott farms over 2,500 acres organically without exposing his family or neighbors to chemicals, obtaining the same yields, and better quality crops.

Scott became involved with OFA and the Policy Committee after years of advocating with OEFFA where he began to speak up about organic and the challenges it faces. He sees the advocacy work he does with OFA as a way to work directly with lawmakers and defend organic. While there are always naysayers who question organic, Scott believes standing up to share your story is the best way to support organic and make farming more equitable. Scott knows he’s privileged for how he came into organic farming, and his experience with meeting farmers from across the country as a part of his advocacy work has exposed him to more stories of imbalance within the system. Stories he hopes he can lend a voice to in order to make a change for organic farmers.

 

Would you like to nominate someone for the Member Spotlight? Please email your recommendation to madison[@]organicfarmersassociation.org.