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Richland County Farm Bureau does a lot of great programs throughout the year. This year the board and many volunteers helped make our programs a success. It takes good partnerships and great volunteers to make these things happen.

Membership Kick-off – Richland County Farm Bureau kicked off the membership campaign Feb. 12 and provided materials and information about the campaign to those who volunteered to work membership. Richland County Farm Bureau met the goal of farmer member gain with 418 farming members and 697 total members.

We would also like to thank our local group members. Group membership is available to farms and businesses that would like to support Farm Bureau and partner with us to strengthen the community. Our county group members are Alt Farms, Crawford Drainage Company, Grauer Farms, Mechanics Bank and R&R Niese Farms. Spotlights were featured over the summer to highlight those businesses who support and partner with the Farm Bureau throughout the year.

Advocacy and Policy – Ag Day at the Capital, held annually in February, provides a forum to meet with the state legislature. Dale Hulit, Loren Hulit, Sarah Hoak, Raegan Alsept and Brianna Smith attended. In March, Dale Hulit attended the President’s trip to D.C. 

Farmers Share Breakfast – On Feb. 24, we hosted the Farmers Share Breakfast at Shelby High School. The proceeds from the breakfast were donated to local food banks in the names of the FFA chapters who helped at the breakfast: Clear Fork, Crestview, Plymouth and Shelby.

Safety – We co-hosted 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.

Scholarships – This year we awarded $500 scholarships to Cadence Fairchild and Sarah Hoak. Applications will open in early 2025.

Policy Development Meeting – The Policy Development process began in June with a meeting and policy input survey designed to give our members and public officials the opportunity to provide feedback on issues important to them. Board members and action team members worked through the suggestions after the meeting. The proposals were voted on at the Richland County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting in September. The adopted policies, which guide program development, can be found here. 

Family Fun on the Farm Festival – On June 29, the summer intern and county board members taught children about agriculture in our booth at Richland Soil & Water Conservation District’s event at Malabar Farm State Park. The festival centers around the theme of where food comes from in a family friendly atmosphere where visitors can learn about farm life, food production and conservation.

Nationwide – Remains a strong partner of the Farm Bureau. Each month members received an e-blast about risk management topics and the Nationwide products and services offered for those specific issues.

County Fair –This year we had a display in the Antique building. We designed and distributed T-shirts (with help from generous sponsors) to nearly 800 4-H and FFA exhibitors at the fair along with providing embroidered chairs to the Outstanding Market Livestock Exhibitors in each species, sponsoring the Showman of Showmen trophy, hosting the annual Barnyard Olympics, and serving breakfast in Fairhaven Cafeteria early Tuesday morning.

Tire Amnesty Day – We partnered with Richland Solid Waste and Richland Public Health to co-host an event on Aug. 24 at the fairgrounds to recycle tires. We had an overwhelming response of ag tires and filled more bins than last year. 

Cultivating Minds Project – In partnership with Richland County Soil & Water, we will be providing three ag and conservation literacy kits to all school districts in Richland County and the Mansfield Richland County Public Library this fall. This project is possible through local grants from the Richland County Youth and Family Council and the Richland County Foundation.

Annual Meeting – The 2024 Richland County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting was held Sept. 5. Dale Arnold, Ohio Farm Bureau Director of Energy, Utility and Local Government was the keynote speaker. 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.

Richland 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 Dale Hulit, President; Tim Johnson, Vice President; Kelly Staley; Loren Hulit; Brian Alt; Walt Bonham; Bob Cohen; Linda Fackler; Jerry Hayes and Amanda Stanfield. We have one trustee seat open.

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 contact the county office at 419-747-7488 or [email protected].