Ohio Farm Bureau introduces Energy and Utility Issues Resource Guide
Ohio Farm Bureau’s newest resource for members seeks to help farmland owners navigate the many questions surrounding energy development.
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Photos by Dave Gore
This is the final installment of a glimpse into the realities of farm life through the eyes of Union County Farm Bureau member Ron Burns and his fiancée, Melissa Downerd. The corn harvest, livestock care and a special moment between the couple are captured in a last look at “a year in the life” of a family farm.
The last of the crops are harvested in late October, early November as Burns and Downerd prepare for winter. 
Organic corn is harvested through the combine. 
Then Burns sets up the grain auger to load the bin with corn. 
In the meantime Downerd keeps watch over her beef Holstein herd, which she will raise to their market weight of 600 pounds.
Guinea hens scavenge for bugs around the farm and eat excess feed in the cattle pen. 
Keeping a watch over all the activity at the Burns/Downerd farm is the farmyard patriarch Jack Willis, a goat.
Ron and Melissa were engaged as we documented life on the farm through 2016. They are preparing for a June 2018 wedding.
The issue of property taxation remains as one of the biggest challenges our members face today. Ensuring agricultural property is valued for its agricultural potential and not development is critical to the continued success of Ohio agriculture.
The plan we are on is great. It’s comparable to my previous job's plan, and we are a sole proprietor.
I could not have done it without the resources I have found through Farm Bureau.
We really appreciate what Farm Bureau has done to get people interested in this line of work and workforce development and getting people interested in this industry.
We work terrifically with the Ashtabula County Farm Bureau, hosting at least one to two outreach town hall events every year to educate new farmers and existing farmers on traditional CAUV and woodlands.
Because we are younger farmers just starting out, Farm Bureau has a lot of good opportunities and resources to help us grow in the future.
Through the Select Partner program, we became educated in farm insurance and weren't just selling policies. It became more and more clear why farmers need an advocate like Ohio Farm Bureau.
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