The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation has long been an important part of our lives here at the farm. We’ve covered their annual meetings, national conventions, lobbying trips to Washington, and dozens of regional meetings and leadership efforts.

Lindsay and I have been honored by the organization as State Finalists in the Farm Bureau’s Excellence in Agriculture Award.

The Ohio Farm Bureau, like state Farm Bureaus around the country, present a series of awards recognizing young agricultural professionals. Today the organization announced its state finalists in the Outstanding Young Farmer, Discussion Meet, and Excellence in Agriculture Awards. The Outstanding Young Farmer program recognizes individuals or couples age 35 or younger for their accomplishments in their farming operations and their leadership in the agricultural community. The Discussion Meet tests participants’ subject knowledge, problem solving abilities and personal and small group communications skills. The Excellence in Agriculture Award recognizes successful people age 35 or younger who are involved in farming but whose primary occupations are not farming or owning an agricultural business. The award is based on their involvement in agriculture and participation in Farm Bureau and other community organizations.

The Finals of the Discussion Meet will take place next week during the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting in Cincinnati. Finalists Pam Haley of West Salem, Cassandra Palsgrove of Pickerington, Andrew Spiker of Adamsville and Kelly Staley of Fredricktown will be discussing what can be done to encourage young people to get involved in the agricultural industry and how to bridge the gap between farmers and lawmakers in order to have an influence in the changing political environment.

The finalists in the Outstanding Young Farmer competition are Kyle Brown of Marion, Jay Holden of Mt. Orab and Brandon and Julia Weber of Jackson. They went through an interview and presentation earlier this month, and will be recognized during OFBF’s Harvest Banquet at the Annual Meeting.

Likewise, we participated in a similar presentation and interview earlier this month, along with fellow finalists Scott and Tracie Isler of Prospect, Matthew and Kristin Reese of Baltimore, and Chip and Shannon Yochum of Leesburg. Lindsay and I are honored to be on stage with these outstanding agricultural professionals, and we’re extremely excited to be named finalists for this prestigious award.

The winners of each award will travel to Seattle this January to compete in the American Farm Bureau Federation’s contests. We’ll once again be covering the AFBF Annual meeting courtesy of Nationwide Agribusiness.

Thank you to the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation for honoring us as part of the 2009 Excellence in Agriculture Award program. We’ll look forward to seeing you next week in Cincy!