NEWS Ohio’s Country Journal Arson suspected in Central Ohio barn fires


BY TY HIGGINS, OHIO AG NET In late February and March there was


a rash of barn fires, five in all, reported in Licking and Delaware Counties. Arson is suspected in every incident. Three of them occurred in one early


April morning, all within miles of each other in Delaware County. The calls start- ed coming in to the Harlem Township Fire Department around 6 a.m. That is also when Linda Skinner’s


phone started to ring as well. Her father, 92-year-old Shelby Garee, bought the 129-acre farm in 1950 when it was first used as a dairy. For Linda, as the ashes still filled the


air hours after the flames were put out, what had happened was just setting in. “I can’t tell you the hours that my


brothers and I spent in this barn help- ing milk cows, feed the calves, bed the cows and feed silage,” Skinner said. “I don’t understand how anyone would


want to do this much damage.” As for equipment at the Garee farm, a


corn planter, a drill and other items in the barn could not be saved. However, Linda and her brother Steve were able to save several old tractors from an adjacent barn before the flames spread. “As bad as it is, it could have been a


lot worse,” Skinner said. “We’ll do what we have to do. We will get it cleaned up and hauled away and go from there. That is all you can do.” In late February, Licking County was


the scene for two other barn fires, causing damage to a tractor, equipment and hay for a total loss of $6,000 in one barn and destroying over a million dollars of seed corn in the other barn belonging to the Clever Seed Corn Company in Croton. Centerburg farmer Carl Judy is one of


Clever Seed Corn’s customers that had all of his 2012 seed corn go up in smoke.


“It’s just bad timing,” Judy said.


“Seed is tight but the Clever Seed Corn business has been around for a long time and it is a good family and I know they’ll make it right.” In the meantime, Clever Seed Corn


has been working closely with other seed companies around Ohio to make sure that the corn that was lost can be replaced and delivered to customers before they started planting. All of the barn fires are still under


investigation. Two were deemed arson and the other three were highly suspect to be the same cause, simply because of the timing and proximity of the barns. Harlem Township Fire Chief Dale


Fling said there are ways that farmers can keep their property safe and, more importantly, less prone to these types of situations. “Some perimeter lighting is certainly


Movie “Touchback” features ample Ohio farm connections


BY HEATHER HETTERICK, OHIO AG NET The movie “Touchback,” that was


released last month has bushels of ties to Ohio agriculture and the Buckeyes. “Touchback” tells the tale set in


Coldwater, Ohio about a former high school football star turned farmer and fam- ily man. Scott Murphy (Brian Presley) finds himself with a unique opportunity to revisit his glory days during the Ohio State championship game where he permanent- ly injured his knee in a game-winning play. Given a second shot at his destiny, Scott seeks counsel from Coach Hand (Kurt Russell), Scott’s longtime mentor on and off the field, to help him decide whether to let his fate unfold, or follow a path that will change his future. The film was written and directed by


Dan Handfield, an Ohio State University graduate. That explains the Ohio State football tie-in. But why Coldwater, Ohio? Handfield spent time in college


working on a film near Miami University. While there, he heard stories about the town of Coldwater and their football team. That’s why he chose to base this football movie there. According to the Coshocton Tribune,


parts of the movie were filmed during football games between Coshocton and River View in 2009 and 2010, and during half time at an OSU home game. The lead character is a high school


football star turned farmer, and the farm- ing scenes in the movie were filmed two years ago in Coshocton County. The movie is set in Coldwater, Ohio though none of it was filmed there. For one scene in the movie, the direc-


tor needed two things: green soybeans and an old combine. Some Ohio farmers were able to help him with both, even though it was October. Ohio Soybean Council board member and Darke County farmer Jeff Weubker


Ag groups push for permanent tax relief A group comprised from the com-


modity, dairy, livestock and specialty crop industries is urging the House and Senate to enact legislation before the end of the year to provide permanent and meaningful estate tax relief. The group supports permanently keeping the cur- rent exemption at $5 million per person and retaining the top rate of 35%. The American Soybean Association


(ASA), that is a part of the group, believes it is also imperative that the permanent estate tax law index the exemption to inflation, provide for


spousal transfers, and include the stepped-up basis. If Congress does not take action on


ASA’s recommendations before the end of the year, the exemption will drop to $1 million and the top tax rate above the exclusion amount will increase to 55%. “If estate taxes are allowed to be rein-


stated at the beginning of 2013 with only a $1 million exemption and top rate of 55%, the negative impact on our industry will be significant,” stated the groups. “The 2013 change to the estate tax law does a disservice to agriculture because


6 Ohio’s Country Journal • ocj.com • May 2012


was called to help find the crew both items. Through his brother-in-law, he was able to locate a late double-crop field of soybeans that were still green near Warsaw, owned by Gerald Findley. The beans harvested in the film were his. Sam Mullett had the John Deere


6600 combine they were looking for, but there was a catch. In a key scene of the movie, the combine header hits a chunk of wood and the header flies apart, a theatrical sacrifice Mullett was not willing to make with his header. “I took my combine down to run the


beans and my neighbor had an old head- er he was going to scrap, so we used it,” Mullett said. ”After that, it definitely needed to go to the scrap yard.” He did have to teach actor Brian


Presley how to drive his combine. Mullett said that didn’t make him nerv- ous, though. “In parts of it they didn’t let him


drive it, I had to, especially when the header hits the piece of wood, because the cameras were so close,” Mullett said. Due to copyright infringements, they


had to doctor-up the combine a bit with some movie magic. “Instead of ‘John Deere,’ they took


black tape and made it like Onon Der. Instead of a 6600 they made it an 8800,” he said. ”It’s still that way, I told them not to change it back.” He didn’t mind taking a few days off


farming to help the crew. “It was kind of neat. I enjoyed it,”


Mullet said. “It was different for me. I had never done anything like that before. They treated me real good and fed us everyday.” Mullet hasn’t seen the movie yet, so he


isn’t sure whether or not he appears in the film. He does, however, look forward to seeing how it turned out and the chance to see his “Onon Der” on the silver screen.


a big help,” Fling said. “Motion sensors could also be helpful. In a rural setting, alarm systems will not really prevent anything; it will just let you know after the fact. My best advice is to be vigilant and to watch vehicles that may be out of place at odd times.” It seems that barns, not just recently


in Central Ohio, but through the years across the country, have been susceptible to this type of malicious activity. Fling said he wishes he knew why. “I think they are perceived as an easy


target,” Fling said. “Typically they are a bit more remote and not really close to residential property. The ability to get in and get out and not be seen is in the mind set of these individuals.” There are rewards being put up for any


information about the two Licking County barn fires and the three in Delaware County are still under investigation.


we are a land-based, capital-intensive industry with few options for paying estate taxes when they come due. The current state of our economy, coupled with the uncertain nature of estate tax liabilities, makes it difficult for family- owned farms and ranches to make sound business decisions.” In letters to both chambers Friday, ASA


encouraged Congress to show its support for “permanent and meaningful estate tax relief” with the co-sponsorship of bills reforming the estate tax. In the House, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) has intro-


duced the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act (H.R. 1259), while Sen. John Thune (R- S.D.) has advanced the counterpart Senate bill of the same name (S. 2242). “This action will strengthen the


business climate for farm and ranch families while ensuring agricultural businesses can be passed to future gen- erations,” continued the groups. “Allowing estate taxes to be reinstated without an exemption and rate that protects family farms puts many opera- tions at risk and threatens succession to the next generation of farmers.”


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