Growing our Generation: Jonathan and Alyssa Zucker
Jonanthan and Alyssa Zucker farm in Marion and Wyandot counties. They are in their last term on the State Young Agricultural Professionals Committee and serve as co-chairs.
Hello everyone! We are the Zuckers, and we farm in Marion and Wyandot counties. Jonathan is a 7th generation farmer working in partnership with his grandfather, Roy Loudenslager. They produce corn, soybeans, and sweet corn in Marion County. Alyssa keeps books for Stansbery Seed and Service and Tactical Ag. Stansbery Seed and Service is an agricultural support company specializing in custom fertilizer and chemical application and seed sales, and Tactical Agriculture is an aerial application company. Alyssa’s family’s farm is in Wyandot County where they raise cattle, sheep, chickens, hay, corn, soybeans and wheat. We have a desire to learn and improve farming and management practices and have been blessed with a great legacy that we want to see passed down for generations to come.
Farm Bureau is a true grassroots organization which inspires members to build a stronger community: both town and country. We are proud to be a part of this organization and have been members of Ohio Farm Bureau for 13 years. Currently we are in the last year of our term on the YAP State Committee and serve as the co-chairs.
Traveling and the networking that goes along with it are some of our favorite parts of serving on the YAP State Committee. We have been given the chance to go to Atlanta for the American Farm Bureau Convention and Louisville for the National Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference, where we were able to network with farmers from all over the country. Being able to talk with peers about how they farm in other parts of the country is a great way to learn. Ask why and you might just find new ways to do things. We are currently preparing to go to Washington, D.C. in a couple of weeks, where we will gather with other Young Agricultural Professionals members and meet with lawmakers to lobby for the agricultural community.
This summer we had the opportunity to spend an evening with campers from the ExploreAg program, where we were able to network and share our career stories. ExploreAg is an ag literacy and workforce development program which offers free week and day-long immersion programs for high school students.
YAP Event
We were recently invited to a multicounty Young Ag Professionals kick-off event for Jackson-Vinton, Pike, and Scioto County Farm Bureaus. The event was designed to engage and increase membership of YAP members in these counties. There was pizza, axe throwing, and networking. This was a great opportunity to talk with YAP members to see what is happening now and gauge future needs.
We have also had the opportunity to attend OFBF Board of Trustees meetings. This is a great way to see how the organization is run and to meet the trustees and staff.
Currently we are in the midst of planning the Winter Leadership Experience. With a new location and a diverse set of speakers and sessions, we are excited for the direction of this year’s conference. Be on the lookout for more information in the coming months!
I was recently elected to my second term on the Ohio Republican State Central Committee as the 26th District Committeeman. The Republican State Central Committee is the governing body of the Ohio Republican Party and manages party operations throughout the state. This gives me a platform to advocate for agriculture to 65 other committee members throughout the state.
I have been elected to serve as Marion County Farm Bureau president for the upcoming year. I’m excited to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of my grandmother, Judy Loudenslager. She instilled the passion for Farm Bureau in my life. I remember her taking my brothers and me along to help out at events from a young age. The pancake breakfast was probably my favorite because I got to well… eat all the pancakes I could. As we got older we became more involved. In 2009 we helped by informing voters on Issue 2, which created the Livestock Care Standards Board. When she was elected to the state board, she would take us to meetings and fully immerse us into the culture of Farm Bureau. She taught me to lead by example, show up, to always see the best in someone, and when cooking to always double the butter and probably the sugar, too.
Tell us a joke or funny story
Q. What do you get when you cross a farmer and some trendy headphones?
A. Beets by Dre.
Q. What kinds of pigs know karate?
A. Pork chops.
Share a favorite recipe
Oatmeal Cake – From the kitchen of Judy Loudenslager
Cake:
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp vanilla extract or to taste
Topping:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup evaporated milk
Directions
Pour boiling water over oatmeal and let stand for 20 minutes. In another bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, flour, soda, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Stir in oats, spread batter in a greased and floured 9×13 pan and bake for 45 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.
Topping:
Melt butter and add remaining ingredients, spread over baked cake and return to the oven for 10-12 minutes.
I appreciate the benefit of having a strong voice in my corner. The extras that are included in membership are wonderful, but I'm a member because of the positive impact to my local and state agricultural communities.
I see the value and need to be engaged in the community I live in, to be a part of the decision-making process and to volunteer with organizations that help make our community better.
Farm Bureau involvement has taught me how to grow my professional and leadership experience outside of the workforce and how to do that in a community-centric way.
With not growing up on a farm, I’d say I was a late bloomer to agriculture. I feel so fortunate that I found the agriculture industry. There are so many opportunities for growth.
Labor has always been an issue, mainly because we are a seasonal operation. So that's a challenge finding somebody who only wants to work three months out of a year, sometimes up to six months.
Knowing that horticulture is under the agriculture umbrella and having Farm Bureau supporting horticulture like it does the rest of ag is very important.
If it wasn't for Farm Bureau, I personally, along with many others, would not have had the opportunity to meet with our representatives face to face in Washington.
So many of the issues that OFBF and its members are advocating for are important to all Ohioans. I look at OFBF as an agricultural watchdog advocating for farmers and rural communities across Ohio.
Brandie Finney of Crawford County is the editor of the May 2023 Growing our Generation enewsletter, featuring insights and ideas directly from Ohio’s young farmers and food and agricultural professionals.
Hannah DiVencenzo of Lorain County is the editor of the April 2023 Growing our Generation enewsletter, featuring insights and ideas directly from Ohio’s young farmers and food and agricultural professionals.
Luke and Kayla Durbin, Carly Fitz, Tim and Sarah Terrill and Greg Williams are the newest members of the Ohio Farm Bureau Young Agricultural Professionals State Committee.
Charlie and Casey Ellington from Stark County are the editors of the October 2022 Growing our Generation enewsletter, featuring insights and ideas directly from Ohio’s young farmers and food and agricultural professionals.
Jonanthan and Alyssa Zucker farm in Marion and Wyandot counties. They are in their last term on the State Young Agricultural Professionals Committee and serve as co-chairs.
Jaclyn De Candio of Clark County is the editor of the July 2022 Growing our Generation enewsletter. She is the owner of The Herdbook Ag Media and a member of the State Young Ag Professionals Committee.
Makayla Eggleton of Fayette County is the editor of the May 2022 Growing our Generation enewsletter, featuring insights and ideas directly from Ohio’s young farmers and food and agricultural professionals.
Young Ag Professionals State Committee member Sara Tallmadge from Ashland County is a laboratory animal technologist within the Center for Food Animal Health at The Ohio State University’s CFAES Wooster Campus.