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Never has a brand new year felt more welcome.

This sentiment is reflected in Executive Vice President Adam Sharp’s column Across the Table in the January/February issue of Our Ohio magazine. Sharp charts a forward-looking course for Ohio Farm Bureau and our members in the latest issue.

In 2020 the Farm Bureau annual meeting was held remotely, with small groups also meeting throughout the state. Much of the program was available online to all members. Inside the magazine we take a look back at the first-ever virtual event with stories about policy initiatives, new or re-elected board members and how county delegates safely met throughout the state during the pandemic. The January/February issue also takes a look back at a year in which COVID-19 dominated every facet of life through a four-page Year in Review.

A new year-long series titled Strengthening Communities draws attention to community and business initiatives that are taking place to help bring economic stability or rebirth to rural areas and small towns across the state. The story in this issue centers on the plethora of attractive careers, both on and off the farm, available to youth interested in a future job in agriculture.

Speaking of careers, the January/February issue of the magazine includes a feature about the state-of-the-art beef cattle training facility recently opened to students at OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Wooster Campus. Also, Ag 101 this issue features three high school ag educators who were finalists for Nationwide’s Golden Owl award last year. They speak to the challenges of teaching a subject as hands-on as agriculture both remotely and socially distanced in person this school year.

Big Fish Farms is also featured in the first issue of the new year. The free-range caviar farmers in southwest Ohio have created a marketing niche for their top-shelf delicacy, harvested from homegrown American paddlefish.

Finally, we welcome a new crop of student chefs from the Lorain County Community College Culinary Arts program for Our Ohio recipes in 2021. Many of the dishes are old favorites created with a new spin, but there are some challenges thrown in this year as well.

These are just the highlights of what members will find in the latest issue of Our Ohio magazine, a benefit of Farm Bureau membership and Our Ohio supporters. A digital edition is also available.