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This year's "Land and Living" display at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus grew to fill the entire Nationwide Agriculture and Horticulture building. The expansion of the interactive agricultural display encompassed the other organizations that traditionally present exhibits in the building and presented information on nearly every aspect of the Buckeye State’s agricultural industry.

Once again, OFBF coordinated the effort of the various commodity, livestock and produce groups to present this unique exhibit that showed consumers how agriculture is present everyday in their lives.

New this year, was a water quality exhibit that featured water collected from all 88 counties in Ohio along with photos of county residents collecting the samples. The water flowed through a replica of a riparian zone as it might have been found along Ohio’s farm fields. A children's area with toy implements and a sandbox were backdropped with enlarged pictures of the "real thing." Equipment was parked outside the building allowing visitors to see the tools of agriculture.

Gardening also was featured. "Whether it's with a big garden or a single tomato plant in a pot on your patio, gardens are everyone's link to agriculture," according to Jim Chakeres, OFBF’s director of market and risk management and the organization’s point person of the state fair display.

Making a second appearance at the Ohio State Fair was the corn-climbing wall, where fairgoers climbed a giant ear of corn. To reach the wall, participants wound through a live corn maze with posters and recorded messages about products made from corn. Also available were hatching chicks. Aquaculture, soybeans, dairy, nursery and landscape industries were part of the display again.

Some public service aspects to this year's display revolved around food – $5,000 worth of canned food used to build a barn and silo were donated to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank after the fair. This effort was co-sponsored by the Ohio Grocer's Association. Also, OFBF’s Club Fed committee collected leftover food each day from the commodity group food pavilion and transported it to Faith Mission in downtown Columbus to be used to feed the homeless. Club Fed is the Farm Bureau staff organization for volunteer and charitable activities.