Adams County Farm Bureau Discusses Property Tax, Land Use, Federal Programs

Chad Ruhl, farm manager at CSI Insurance, is quoted on an Adams County Farm Bureau page after what the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) lists as a Feb. 9, 2026 Policy Development Meeting in Adams County, Ohio, while a separate posted article and summary bear a Feb. 26, 2026 date. Both the OFBF posting and the Feb. 26 article say county Farm Bureau members, local producers, elected officials and community leaders gathered to review and refine local policy positions, with property tax reform as a central focus.

OFBF describes the meeting as part of Ohio Farm Bureau’s grassroots policy development process and explicitly lists the subjects Adams County members addressed: property tax reform and its impact on local landowners, land use and regulatory issues including development of data centers, updated septic-system legislation and proposed Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) changes. OFBF’s posting names the Feb. 9 date for the meeting and frames county meetings as the mechanism by which members “directly influence the organization’s legislative priorities and internal policies.”

The article page dated Feb. 26, 2026 includes a quoted line attributed to Chad Ruhl: “So many of the issues that OFBF and its members are advocating for are important to all Ohioans. I look at OFBF as an agricultural watchdog advocating for farmers and rural communities across Ohio.” The same page displays an avatar for Mary Smallsreed with the label “Trumbull County Farm Bureau,” though the provided excerpt does not include a direct quote from Smallsreed. The dual dates in OFBF’s posting and the Feb. 26 article remain unresolved in the available materials.

A subhead on the article also lists “federal programs” among discussion topics, but the captured material does not specify which federal programs were raised. Meeting materials and attendee lists were not included in the posted excerpts; the recorded participant categories are Farm Bureau members, elected officials, community leaders and local producers without named local elected officials or producers beyond the page contributors.

A county fiscal document in the assembled materials labeled “2026 ADAMS COUNTY BUDGET” sets an unrestricted fund balance target of 80-100 days of operating expenditures — approximately 25% of annual operating expenditures — and notes that maintaining that balance can reduce the need for urgent millage rate increases. The budget excerpt also references a 10-year Capital Improvement Plan policy. The budget document’s excerpt does not explicitly state the state of the Adams County it covers; reporters should confirm whether that fiscal policy applies to Adams County, Ohio, before drawing direct links to the Farm Bureau discussion of property taxes.

The national context is active: the American Farm Bureau Federation adopted 2026 policies at its Jan. 13, 2026 convention, and AFBF President Zippy Duvall said, “America’s farmers and ranchers are facing unprecedented challenges in agriculture, including high supply costs, trade imbalances, and low commodity prices. Today, our members gave us clear guidance on how we should address those challenges in the coming year. Farm Bureau’s strength was on display today, as our grassroots set the policy for this organization. We look forward to taking their stories to leaders in Washington, as we work to ensure farmers and ranchers can continue to fill pantries for families across the country.” AFBF polling at the convention showed almost 99% of delegates who cast votes operate family farms and more than two-thirds represent small- to mid-size farms as defined by USDA.

Next steps: Adams County Farm Bureau and Ohio Farm Bureau Federation communications need to confirm whether Feb. 9, 2026 was the meeting date and whether Feb. 26, 2026 reflects a posting or publication date; reporters should request the meeting minutes, any adopted policy language on property tax, CAUV, septic legislation or data centers, and a list of elected officials or producers who attended. For national context and AFBF follow-up, AFBF press contacts listed in the convention materials are Mike Tomko, Director, Communications, (202) 406-3642, miket@fb.org, and Bailey Corwine, Communications Manager, (202) 406-3643, baileyc@fb.org.