Exhibit draws 300,000 Now in its third year, Ohio Farm Bureau’s "Land and Living: Agriculture – Your Link to Life" exhibit at the 150th Ohio State Fair featured all aspects of agriculture, and many exhibits were interactive drawing in nearly 300,000 visitors. Paintings of all 88 bicentennial barns in Ohio were attractions for many visitors. Scott Hagan, the official bicentennial barn painter, painted a backyard barn with the bicentennial logo. The barn was raffled, and more than $1,500 was donated to the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation. Sales of the book Bicentennial Barns, by Beth Gorczya, were very popular. More than 300 books were sold, and Gorcyza, Bill Miller, the book’s photographer, and Hagan visited the exhibit at the Nationwide Ag & Hort building to autograph books Aug. 9. Once again, OFBF coordinated the effort with Nationwide and various commodity groups to bring this exhibit to life. A big hit this year was the new working dog station. Visitors could come by and see different puppies that represented breeds of working dogs. Also with the puppies were displays for Veterinary Pet Insurance. To highlight Ohio Farm Bureau’s Award for Children’s Literature winner "Oh Say Can You Seed?", children could plant flowers to take home. Again this year children could climb the popular corn wall, see and touch baby chicks and play in the sandbox. Other exhibits featured gardening, vegetables, nuts, Christmas Trees, soybeans, corn, aquaculture, dairy and other commodities grown in Ohio. "The ‘Land and Living’ exhibit has become a ‘destination’ for families attending the state fair," said Mike Pullins, OFBF vice president of business services. "Therefore, it’s a great way for the exhibit partners to deliver our message that ‘Ohio agriculture is important, diverse and environmentally friendly.’" | |