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Group Member Relationship – In December a group of board members delivered donuts and Christmas cards to the group members. Spotlights were featured over the summer to highlight those businesses who support and partner with the Farm Bureau throughout the year.

Membership Kickoff – In February, Marion County Farm Bureau held a kickoff to the membership campaign and provided materials and information about the campaign to those who volunteered to work membership. Marion County Farm Bureau met the goal of farmer member gain with 459 farming members and overall gain with 798 total members.

Advocacy – Ag Day at the Capital, held annually in February, provides a forum to meet with the state legislature. Cy Prettyman, Steve Wickersham and Brad Swavel attended. The policy development breakfast was held in June at Loyer Farms. This meeting with members and public officials is the start of our grassroots policy development process.

Safety – We co-hosted one of four manure pit safety and rescue training sessions on March 20 and 21. Area farmers, firefighters and other emergency personnel learned critical information about the hazards of working around manure pits, the importance of air quality monitoring, and how to use body harnesses, lifelines, and retrieval equipment. The training featured a one-of-a-kind manure pit rescue simulator. First responders make up over 60% of the fatalities related to manure pit accidents, highlighting the critical need for this training at our rural fire departments. The sponsors were Farm Credit Mid America, Centerra Co-op, Hord Family Farms, Farmer Boy Ag, The First Citizens National Bank, CSI Insurance, Douce Insurance, Gerber Insurance and Hempy Water. This program will be recognized as a County Activity of Excellence at the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in January in San Antonio.

The annual Farmers Care Breakfast was held at Tri-Rivers on March 23. We cooked breakfast and celebrated agriculture as the county and nation’s leading industry. Sponsors included Ag Credit, Gerber Insurance Agency, Hord Livestock and Hord Family Farms, Ken Stiverson, Mid-Ohio Antique Farm Machinery Show and Trillium Farms. Extra food from the breakfast was donated to a local food pantry.

YMCA Sweetcorn Patch – Thanks to Steve Wickersham, Tom Murphy and a team of horses, we were able to plant a patch of sweetcorn at the Marion YMCA. Evan Long donated the seed used. The corn was harvested and donated to area food banks.

Marion County Fair– We were Gold Sponsors of the Marion County Fair again this year. We hosted the Feed Sack Decorating Contest and Barnyard Olympic games, which allowed nearly 200 youth to unwind at the end of the week and have some competitive fun.

Nationwide – We continue to build a solid relationship with Nationwide. Each month members received an e-blast about risk management topics, which included Nationwide products and services offered for those specific issues.

Scholarship – This year we awarded one James H. Johnson scholarship to Renee Fremont. Applications will open in early 2025.

Annual Meeting – The 2024 Marion County Farm Bureau and Soil and Water Conservation Annual Meeting was held on Aug. 20. Ohio Farm Bureau Friend of Agriculture recipients were announced. Members voted on policies and elected trustees and delegates for the 2025 Ohio Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.

Marion County Farm Bureau looks for ways to impact and improve the community. We strive to keep strong relationships with elected officials so that rural interests are not neglected when rules are being made. Your 2024-2025 Farm Bureau Trustees are Steve Wickersham, President; Tim Wood, Vice-president; Jillian Russell, Secretary; William Trihaft, Treasurer; Tim Barnes, John Hafer, Darryl Ralph,  Kristina Sanderson, Ron Sanderson, Ken Stiverson, Ron Thiel, Dwight Williams, Mark Wilson, Jane Wood and Jonathan Zucker. We have three open trustee seats.

If you’d like more information about Farm Bureau, or better still you’d like to serve as a trustee or help with some of our projects, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can contact one of the county trustees or the county office at 419-747-7488 or [email protected].