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Every September, Ohio Farm Bureau invites young professionals with strong leadership potential to take part in the Washington, D.C. Leadership Experience. Farm Bureau members under the age of 35 attend the trip to share their concerns and ideas with members of Congress, learn about international agriculture, and grow personally and professionally. 

Joining the group are members of Ohio Farm Bureau’s AgriPOWER leadership institute. In AgriPOWER, class members gain knowledge on issues that are relevant to the farm and food industry such as consumer relations, regulations, energy, and trade policies. Through AgriPOWER, individuals develop the skills necessary to become effective leaders and advocates for agriculture by learning from experts in these fields.

From Sept. 9-11, participants will visit with their congressional representative, meet with American Farm Bureau staff members for industry and issues updates, get a behind-the-scenes look at how Washington works, explore a worldview of agriculture during a visit to an embassy and gain deeper knowledge about Farm Bureau as a grassroots organization.

Sept. 9
Ohio Farm Bureau’s executive vice president, Adam Sharp, welcomed the group to the nation’s capital by sharing his career and leadership journey and gave an overview of the importance of grassroots lobbying for agriculture.

Following Sharp’s remarks, Ohio Farm Bureau First Vice President and State Trustee Cy Prettyman gave an empowering message to inspire the group to learn and grow their network over the next three days.

“Leadership is influence, and relationships matter,” Prettyman said. “Everyone brings value and a different perspective and you can never know too many people. Don’t be intimidated to get to know someone in a leadership role and expand your network this week.”

Brad Bales, Ohio Farm Bureau senior director of state and national policy, guided participants through an interactive game highlighting the complexities of legislation and demonstrating how a personal message or relationship can directly influence a vote. This tied seamlessly into the trip’s purpose, reinforcing the importance of building personal connections with political leaders to create meaningful change.

The primary focus of this leadership experience is to provide participants with the resources they need to learn how to efficiently educate their representatives on agricultural topics. To assist in this endeavor, Brian Glenn and John Walt Boatright, American Farm Bureau directors of government affairs, joined Ohio Farm Bureau policy staff to further discuss the talking points that would prepare participants for their congressional meetings tomorrow and Thursday.

The priority issues discussed were the farm economy and the next incarnation of the farm bill, as well as updates Ohio Farm Bureau would like to see, such as codifying year-round E15, among other things.

To round out the first day, the group enjoyed dinner at Mission Navy Yard and a guided evening monument tour in the city.

Sept. 10
Eager to begin their congressional meetings, participants gathered to continue preparing their testimonials and talking points for their legislators. For some members, this was the first time they have been in Washington, D.C., let alone sitting across the table from their legislative representatives.

The group departed for Capitol Hill and began to experience the impact that a unified voice can have on a national level when members from a grassroots organization are given a seat at the table.

“There are not a lot of specialty crop growers like myself, so I am excited to advocate for a group that doesn’t always have a voice,” said Zach Jones, AgriPOWER Class XV participant. Jones is a specialty crop grower, producing vegetables, fruits, meats, and small grains for his family’s direct-to-consumer farm, The Chef’s Garden.

After several meetings on Capitol Hill, participants had the opportunity to visit the United States Department of Agriculture headquarters.

USDA Deputy Secretary Judge Stephen Vaden addressed the group first, talking about the major areas the department is actively working on: reorganization, trade and rural development.

Then, the group was joined by USDA Deputy Under Secretary, Farm and Conservation, Brooke Appleton, who spoke about current work being done on the supplemental disaster assistance program.

“Our goal is to make it faster and more efficient to get our farmers what they need,” Appleton said.

Lastly, the group was encouraged to explore Washington, D.C and then were hosted by Ohio Farm Bureau state trustees for dinner and networking to relax and recharge after a full day of advocating for Ohio’s farmers.

Sept. 11
The third day of the trip began with a somber start, pausing for a moment of silence to reflect on the tragedy that struck our nation on 9/11 in 2001.

Members of the State YAP Committee, Joe Everett and Emily Warnimont, then gave an overview of the opportunities available to Young Agricultural Professionals to get involved in Farm Bureau at the local, state and national level.

Later, participants joined with members from Indiana Farm Bureau to embark on an exciting journey to visit our friends to the north at the Canadian Embassy.

Canada and the United States share the largest agricultural bilateral trading relationship in the world. Canada is the No. 1 agricultural export for 28 U.S. states. Canada also has similar agricultural challenges such as labor shortages, high input costs and the unpredictability of foreign markets.

An interesting question that was asked was “Does Canada have a farm bill?” The answer is no; Canada has a five-year funding program in place for agricultural programs but has specific departments that address equivalent topics that can be found in our U.S farm bill.

Following the Canadian Embassy visit, participants had the chance to visit the Farm Bureau mothership, American Farm Bureau’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, with the highlight being an opportunity to sit in AFBF President Zippy Duvall’s office chair, which has a unique view of the Capitol building.

To conclude the trip and nine months of hands-on, intense leadership training for AgriPOWER Class XV, the class graduated from the program and were charged with taking what they have learned back into their home communities and county Farm Bureaus.

An important takeaway from the trip is that a unified voice is an impactful voice. Ohio Farm Bureau is committed to providing grassroots opportunities for members to be on the front line of defense for Ohio agriculture.