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by Seth Teter

A proposal to replace OFBF's four state regional women trustee seats with four trustee at-large positions was voted down by delegates at this year's annual meeting.

However, the motion had more support than a similar proposal introduced last year that would have eliminated the position completely.

"We need women trustees," said Barbara Ward, a delegate from Wood County. "The only way that we can make sure that women are represented on the board is to have women trustees."

But Noble County delegate Jason Feldner disagreed, saying "As a young farmer, I see a Farm Bureau where a gender exclusion is not needed anymore for that position."

He added that he felt there would be women on the board regardless of a code change.

Currently there are seven women on the 26-member state board including the four regional women trustee seats.

"Women must be an equal partner," said Al DiVencenzo, a Lorain County delegate. "Now is not the time to segregate a specific gender and delegate them to only four positions."

Last year the proposal was soundly defeated with a vote of 128 for the motion and 194 against. At the time, delegates expressed concern that totally eliminating the four seats would reduce their overall representation on the state board.

This time around, the proposal received a majority of the votes with 182 for and 132 against but did not receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

Also similar to last year, a vote on the issue was briefly delayed as delegates engaged in a somewhat heated debate on whether to take a standing vote or use anonymous paper ballots. In the end, delegates chose a standing vote. An earlier motion to take all votes by paper ballot had also been rejected.

A proposal to move annual meeting to avoid Ohio's deer-gun season also was considered. Several delegates expressed concern over hunters trespassing on their property while they are away. Current code allows for the annual meeting to be held anytime in November and December.

While the code change was rejected, OFBF President Bob Peterson encouraged the delegates to continue letting the annual meeting committee know what dates work best for them. He said it is a challenge to schedule the meeting so it does not conflict with harvest and the holiday season.

A similar proposal to move the dates of annual meeting was again introduced during the policy session and voted down.