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Ohio State Collegiate Farm Bureau celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 1999. Did you know Collegiate Farm Bureau existed? Today, the group meets twice a month, holds social, recruiting and educational activities, and is generating interest on campus. It was recently nominated for an award as one of the best student organizations at Ohio State.

Collegiate Farm Bureau was once the largest student organization on ag campus, but after celebrating its 50th anniversary, membership dwindled. Member Emily McConnell said when she joined in September 2000, only about six members were still active. "The 50th anniversary bash had drained the treasury, and all of the previous officers had graduated," she said.

The group felt the rich history of the Collegiate Farm Bureau group and the importance of exposing Ohio State students to the Farm Bureau organization needed to be preserved. McConnell said that during the winter of 2001, the small group began planning to resurrect the organization through ambitious recruitment efforts, fund-raising campaigns and a renewed relationship with the state Farm Bureau.

"Under the enthusiastic leadership of President Alex Beard, we increased our membership to 28 dues-paying members and have once again become one of the most active student organizations on ag campus," she said. McConnell added all this would not have been possible without the strength of the collegiate members and the incredible support of the Franklin County Farm Bureau.

"Darrell Rubel was extremely instrumental in helping us every step of the way and cementing our relationship with the state office," she said.

"We're different than other campus clubs. Our goal is to keep students educated in the bigger agricultural picture in the state," President Beard said. "We want to keep people involved and provide opportunities to be involved in issues that will affect our careers down the road."

Beard said the group is educational, yet fun. It partnered with the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow student group to host an Issues Night last fall. Speakers included Sen. Larry Mumper, OFBF Promotion and Education Director Pat Petzel, radio personality Dale Minyo and a representative from ODA. The group has an ongoing Ag in the Classroom program with local elementaries and pre-schools. A few members met with the OFBF government affairs department and Rep. Jim Jordan. Some helped Franklin County with its membership campaign.

For fun, members went on a camping trip, visited the Columbus Zoo and are planning an officers' retreat for this spring.

Dues are attractive for the college budget – $5. To generate interest and potential members, Beard said the group organized an ice cream social during Welcome Week on campus and put together welcome bags full of novelty items donated from commodity groups.

Next year's president Heath Eisele said he thinks this year's officer team's hard work, determination and innovative ideas have been one of the main reasons for the success of the group. "They have raised the bar of excellence to a whole new level," he said.

The group is a boost to the OFBF Young Farmer program, according to OFBF Director of Young Leader Programs Darrell Rubel. Many attended the Winter Young Farmer Conference, and Rubel is optimistic that some may attend the summer conference at Deer Creek State Park.

Lisa Arnold currently is participating in both Collegiate Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau Youth. She said her Farm Bureau experience has allowed her to make lifelong friends and be part of something "that has so much to offer in return." She hopes that young members will gain leadership knowledge to continue the tradition of leadership excellence in agriculture.

It's not too late to get involved this year. The next meeting is April 25 in Room 205 of the Agricultural Administration Building at 8 p.m. Contact Eisele at eisele.9@osu.edu for more information. Eisele may be contacted this fall for event and meeting times, dates and locations.

Caption: Members of the Ohio State Collegiate Farm Bureau attended the Winter Young Farmer Conference. The group has been revived on campus, holding twice monthly meetings as well as educational and social events. Photo by Heath Eisele.