Growing our Generation: Representing Ohio in Charlotte
Maggie Preston, Lincoln Deitrick and Denver Davis describe their role in agriculture, their Farm Bureau involvement and what it means to win their respective state awards.
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Growing our Generation enewsletter features insights and ideas directly from Ohio’s young farmers and food and agricultural professionals. Sign up to get this e-letter sent directly to your inbox once a month.
In January 2027, three Ohio contest winners will compete in the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet, Excellence in Agriculture and Outstanding Young Farmer award competitions at the AFBF Annual Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Maggie Preston, Discussion Meet Winner – Mercer County
Describe your role in agriculture and your Farm Bureau involvement
My family runs a grain operation with some livestock in Mercer County. While my primary career is off the farm as a high school English teacher, I assist with farm work where I can. My favorite ways to get involved are helping care for our livestock and assisting with administrative tasks. In addition, my husband’s family runs a grain operation in Hardin County, and we both enjoy helping there as well. I came onto the Mercer County Farm Bureau board in 2021 after completing my undergraduate degree. My involvement in Farm Bureau on both the local and state level have helped me stay rooted in the agriculture industry despite working off-farm.
What does it mean to you to receive this award?
It’s truly an honor to receive this award because, as an English teacher, I’m often encouraging my students to build their discussion skills. I want my students to be able to engage in discourse on complex topics with clarity and respect. That’s the exact skills it takes to be successful in the discussion meet. It’s gratifying to practice what I preach!
Lincoln Deitrick, Outstanding Young Farmer – Muskingum County
Describe your role in agriculture and your Farm Bureau involvement
Agriculture has always been a part of my life: active in 4-H showing cattle and chickens, traveling across the United States showing registered Angus cattle, and working on the family cow-calf farm. I officially began farming in 2011, claimed income on taxes and welcome to adulthood. I started small with 40 acres of rented ground, borrowing all equipment and hiring out harvest. Today, my wife and I own 178 acres. I plant around 900 acres of corn and soybeans, have a feedlot operation with roughly 250 head on feed at all times, make hay, feed out pigs through the winter, and have a self-serve meat trailer that also sells deer corn and straw.
What does it mean to you to receive this award?
I joined the county Farm Bureau Board in 2022 after attending the Young Ag Professionals Winter Leadership Experience the same year and have attended every year since. While on the board I planned a First Responder Training on Handling Livestock which was the first one ever held in our county. The training partnered with surrounding counties and was held at my farm, focusing on handling equipment, trailers, and livestock. I became the membership chairman in 2024 and most recently was elected president for this year. Farm Bureau has given me other leadership opportunities that included traveling to Denver for the American Farm Bureau FUSION Conference and also Washington, D.C. for Young Ag Professionals Leadership Experience.
Denver Davis, Excellence in Agriculture – Auglaize County
Describe your role in agriculture and your Farm Bureau involvement
As a sixth-generation farmer and agribusiness owner, I help operate a diversified farm while also running a cover crop seed cleaning business and a family-owned full service insurance agency. In 2025, I became a licensed Ohio Farm Bureau Health Plans agent, providing farmers and rural small business owners affordable health coverage. I’ve been a county Farm Bureau trustee since 2016 and currently serve the county board treasurer. I’ve been a voting delegate to the state annual meeting, hosted the county annual meeting on our farm, and put on an on-farm legislative breakfast with our state representative.
What does it mean to you to receive this award?
Receiving the Excellence in Agriculture award is meaningful on a few different levels, and they all come back to the same core idea: the work is bigger than any one of us, and the award is a recognition that the next generation is watching how we do it. On a personal level, it sits right next to the fact that our kids—Eleanor, Charles and Emilia—are growing up the same way our family has for six generations. They already see the seed cleaning, the crop insurance paperwork, the cover crop plots, and the Farm Bureau meetings. An award like this is one more data point for them that the decisions we make about soil, risk and community matter outside our own operation. That feels more important than any award. It also reflects the people who have been part of the work. My brother and I have built the seed business together, the insurance agency is a family operation, and the Soil & Water board and the Nature Conservancy role put me in regular contact with other farmers who are trying the same practices. Farm Bureau has been the table where a lot of those conversations happen—whether it’s membership growth, a legislative breakfast on the farm, or simply making sure producers have access to tools that keep them profitable while they improve water quality. The award is a shared credit for that network more than it is an individual one.
Ohio Farm Bureau wishes our state competitors the best of luck as they represent their home communities on the national stage in Charlotte!
Upcoming Deadlines and Events
Applications for the 2027 YAP competitive contests are open! Here is the information about each contest and the application. Apply for Outstanding Young Farmer and Excellence in Agriculture by Dec. 1.
2027 Winter Leadership Experience: Growing Connections, Shaping Legacy
Jan. 22-23 | Greater Columbus Convention Center
Open to members of all ages. Free child care available, children must be pre-registered. Discounted early bird registration ends Dec. 15. Registration closes Jan. 5. For more information or to register, visit ofb.ag/WLE
Ohio Farm Bureau is opening doors for young members by sponsoring five Young Ag Professional members’ registration, hotel, and travel to the AFBF FUSION Conference in New Orleans March 12-15, 2027. For more information or to apply, visit ofb.ag/AFBFscholar.
Curious about the diverse careers in agriculture? Learn more at one of Ohio Farm Bureau’s free ExploreAg fall camps for students entering grades 9-12! Click here for a full list of camp descriptions and application deadlines.
My first recommendation in your journey is to start out with a local farming friend or mentor along with joining an organization like Ohio Farm Bureau.
We’re just so thankful for the Farm Bureau and the foundation for helping put this together. And of course, the Boyert family for the vision they had with this grant. It’s jumping us forward 10 years. It’s unbelievable.
I could not have done it without the resources I have found through Farm Bureau.
It wasn’t until I joined the Wilmington College Collegiate Farm Bureau that I truly saw how my passion could translate into leadership, advocacy and a career.
The issue of property taxation remains as one of the biggest challenges our members face today. Ensuring agricultural property is valued for its agricultural potential and not development is critical to the continued success of Ohio agriculture.
Through the Select Partner program, we became educated in farm insurance and weren't just selling policies. It became more and more clear why farmers need an advocate like Ohio Farm Bureau.
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.
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