DaytonDailyNews.com

The new pitchman for the payday lending industry is a farmer in a John Deere cap standing next to his Chevy pickup. "If this old truck here breaks a belt before payday," he drawls, "I can borrow a hundred bucks, replace that belt, and repay 'em a hundred and fifteen on payday."

The ad got a good laugh at the Ohio Farm Bureau leadership conference in Columbus this week. "Farmers don't get weekly or monthly paychecks like people with commuter jobs," noted Lorain County farmer Al DiVencenzo. "And where is he finding a fan belt for $100 for that old truck?"

But there is anger underneath the laughter — anger whose target goes deeper than the poor grammar and good ol' boy demeanor. "We were insulted," DiVencenzo said. "The ad implies that farmers are poor money managers."

The Ohio Farm Bureau hasn't taken a stand on the payday lending bill. But farmers are taking a stand against the ad sponsored by Ohioans for Financial Freedom, the lenders' group seeking to repeal House bill 545 by collecting signatures for a proposed referendum on the November ballot.

The farmer in the new ad warns "they're riskin' six thousand good-payin' Ohio jobs by passin' laws that would shut um down." (Yes, this is the actual spelling and grammar on the voiceover posted on the lenders' Web site, www.ohioans4financialfreedom.com.)

Never mind that the 6,000 jobs is an industry figure that would happen only if every single job at every single payday lending institution disappeared (not likely). Joe Carnely, spokesman for the Ohio Farm Bureau, said the ad paints another false picture: "Financing a farm business is an extremely intricate matter — not 'I ran out of $100 and I need it today.' We have 74,000 farm families in Ohio so I couldn't say that no farmer has ever used a payday lending service. But it's not a financial strategy, that's for sure."

Ohio farmers aren't happy, Carnely said, that payday lenders "are trying to sell a controversial message by wrapping it in the goodwill that farm families have worked so hard to earn. We're the biggest farm organization in the state of Ohio and no one from this group talked to us. My suspicion is that an ad agency said, 'People like farmers, let's use one of them.' "

Added DiVencenzo, "People trust farmers, and we worked hard to provide that trust. The man in this ad is giving the impression he represents the farming community, but we think it is a poor representation."

Ohio Rep. Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton, speculates the lenders are trying to capitalize on the farmers' reputation for self-sufficiency. In real life, he said, he has seen many struggling families who have used payday lending services: "I had people close to me who went to these people to avoid eviction. I remember watching my mother juggle to rob Peter to pay Paul. I have seen people who are hurting or in a bind do things that aren't the best in order to survive. I haven't seen the outrage for the banks or credit card companies that I have seen for payday lenders."

Strahorn supported House Bill 545 until a provision was introduced capping interest on loans at 28 percent. "That would put the industry out of business, and I felt that was too paternalistic," he said.

The complexities of the issue — not to mention the complexities of the English language — are nowhere to be found in the new ad.

"So, if you get a chance to sign a petition that'll give us back our financial choices ... and protect six thousand good-payin' jobs ... you do it," the farmer warns. "Cause if they won't protect our jobs and our financial choices, we will."

Better watch out. If the guy ever gits his pickup runnin' agin, and ye hanker up too close on his driver's side, he might pop ya one.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or

mmccarty@DaytonDailyNews.com.