The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) recognized county Farm Bureaus for their outstanding activities and achievements during the past year at the organization’s annual leadership conference held in Columbus Aug. 10 and 11.
County Farm Bureau activities from the past year were judged by 38 member-volunteers from across the state on how well the planning and execution of activities utilized three program areas: Communications, Organization and Public Policy.
Communications leaders develop programs to spread information about agriculture and Farm Bureau to audiences including current and prospective members, communities, teachers and students, media and public policy decision-makers. Organization leaders develop and implement programs to advance member services, annual meetings and facilitate relationships with other groups including Nationwide Insurance. Public Policy leaders develop programs that enable members to successfully carry out work in developing and implementing policies to help OFBF members and agriculture in general.
Awards were distributed in three categories among five membership divisions.
• Achievement – Seventy-two of 87 county Farm Bureaus submitted applications and received the Achievement Award for posting county membership gain of 90 percent or greater of the previous year’s membership at the time of judging.
• Excellence – The top three counties in each program area/division received the Excellence Award. To be eligible, county Farm Bureaus must have achieved 91 percent of total membership gain at the time of judging.
The breakdown of Excellence Awards is as follows:
Division 1 (Less than 1,000 members)
Organization
Gold – Pike County
Silver – Morgan County
Bronze – Jackson County
Communications
Gold – Harrison County
Silver – Pike County
Bronze – Paulding County
Public Policy
Gold – Harrison County
Silver – Paulding County
Bronze – Gallia County
Division 2 (1,001 to 1,300 members)
Organization
Gold – Carroll County
Silver – Putnam County
Bronze – Fayette County
Communications
Gold – Carroll County
Silver – Pickaway County
Bronze – Putnam County
Public Policy
Gold – Crawford County
Silver – Hancock County
Bronze – Pickaway County
Division 3 (1,301 to 1,800 members)
Organization
Gold – Ashland County
Silver – Mercer County
Bronze – Fulton County
Communications
Gold – Marion County
Silver – Auglaize County
Bronze – Coshocton County
Public Policy
Gold – Marion County
Silver – Huron County
Bronze – Belmont County
Division 4 (1,801 to 4,000 members)
Organization
Gold – Tuscarawas County
Silver – Ross County
Bronze – Licking County
Communications
Gold – Delaware County
Silver – Tuscarawas County
Bronze – Miami County
Public Policy
Gold – Tuscarawas County
Silver – Delaware County
Bronze – Fairfield County
Division 5 (more than 4,000 members)
Organization
Gold – Cuyahoga County
Silver – Butler County
Bronze – Medina County
Communications
Gold – Butler County
Silver – Franklin County
Bronze – Cuyahoga County
Public Policy
Gold – Lake County
Silver – Hamilton County
Bronze – Summit County
• President – The county Farm Bureaus recognized as having the best overall programming in each division were awarded the highest honor – the President’s Award.
The President’s Award Winners are as follows:
Division 1 – Harrison County
Division 2 – Carroll County
Division 3 – Marion County
Division 4 – Tuscarawas County
Division 5 – Butler County
Other highlights of the annual leadership conference included leadership training, idea-sharing sessions, a breakdown of the proposed Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, the Young Agricultural Professionals Discussion Meet preliminaries and a key note speech from former Texas Congressman Charlie Stenholm.