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Summertime heats up for young farmer activities. Registration deadlines are approaching for four Young Farmer events; members ages 35 and younger are eligible to participate.

Ohio State Fair
This year, young farmers can receive up to four admission tickets to the Ohio State Fair on Aug. 12. Four vouchers for lunch at the Ohio Food Pavilion also will be provided. (The food pavilion showcases food produced from Ohio’s commodity groups.) The day begins with registration from 9 a.m. to noon and concludes with a group dinner at 5:30 p.m. During the day, an optional scavenger hunt will be held with prizes for each family or group who completes the contest. The event is limited to the first 300 who register. Already, Ohio Farm Bureau has received 175 reservations. For additional information, contact county Farm Bureau offices. Registration ends July 21.

Young Farmer contests
Ohio Farm Bureau offers Outstanding Young Farmer, Excellence in Agriculture and Discussion Meet contests. State winners will be announced at the OFBF annual meeting Nov. 30, and they will win a trip to the AFBF annual meeting in Salt Lake City Jan. 7 to 10 to compete in the national Young Farmer contests. All contest applications, complete details and other prize information are available from county Farm Bureau offices.

Discussion Meet
Members who can help others express ideas effectively, be a productive thinker, exchange ideas and information to solve a problem and involve others in conversation are Discussion Meet candidates.

The semi-finals will be held at the OFBF Leadership Conference on Aug. 22. One of the following discussion topics will be chosen: new uses of traditional agricultural products, animal ID, land prices and agricultural profitability and influencing agricultural policy. The four semi-finalists selected will compete at the OFBF annual meeting Nov. 30 in Columbus.

Contest deadline is Aug. 4. All interested contestants will receive rules, training materials, topic research and contest format information in advance of the competition.

Outstanding Young Farmer Contest
This contest is designed to recognize successful young farmers for their achievement in the business of farming and leadership in the agricultural community. Entrants must be engaged in production agriculture. From written, confidential applications, judges will select four semifinalists to compete at the state level. To compete, young farmers must be the winner of their county contest, whether this year or a previous year. The deadline to apply for the state contest is Oct. 6; contact county Farm Bureau offices for county contest deadlines.

Excellence in Agriculture
The Excellence in Agriculture Award recognizes young farmers who do not derive the majority of their income from an owned agricultural operation. However, they are actively contributing and growing through their involvement in Farm Bureau and agriculture. The award may be appropriate for ag teachers, Extension agents, soil conservation scientists and those who are farm employees. Four state semifinalists will be selected from county winners. This contest deadline also is Oct. 6; contact county Farm Bureau offices for county deadlines.