Ohio Farm Bureau members were “Together Again” as the organization held its 103rd annual meeting earlier this month in Columbus. Nearly 385 delegates from all 88 Ohio counties established the organization’s policy goals for the coming year, elected leaders, recognized county Farm Bureau and individual achievements and honored industry leaders. On this Our Ohio Weekly, get a recap of this year’s annual meeting and hear from the organization’s President and Executive Vice President.

Guest: Ohio Farm Bureau President Bill Patterson and OFBF Executive Vice President Adam Sharp

Show synopsis: Farm life can be demanding and stressful and those stresses have reached a critical stage with pandemic impacts on top of natural disasters, extreme weather events, financial pressures due to fluctuating commodity prices, labor shortages, trade disruptions and other factors over the past several years. On this Our Ohio Weekly, find out if the issues of farm stress and mental health are getting as much attention as needed when it comes to helping those who need it.

Guests: Nathan Brown, Highland County Farmer / mental health advocate

If you’ve watched a few shows on Comedy Central or NBC’s Last Comic Standing or have purchased peanut butter in bulk you have more than likely run into this week’s guest. Comedian Greg Warren joins us to talk about his new Amazon Prime special “Where The Field Corn Grows”. Warren is smart enough to understand what he doesn't know, and it's in his common-sense attempt to understand basic agriculture and the farm life that he harvests the ridiculous and absurd.

Guests: Comedian Greg Warren and American Farm Bureau Director of Communications Ray Atkinson

A different type of farm is coming to the Buckeye State. Soon, the town of Pioneer, Ohio will be home to a nearly 500,000 square feet facility that will be used to grow Atlantic Salmon. Science and technology breakthroughs from 30 years ago have spawned into a burgeoning industry where farms grow quality food to a booming world population and produce that food with their neighbors and the environment in mind. On this Our Ohio Weekly, learn more about one of Ohio’s newest farmers - AquaBounty

Guests - AquaBounty President and CEO, Sylvia Wulf

According to the Farm Service Agency of the USDA, nearly 3 percent, or 35.2 million acres of U.S. farmland is foreign-owned as of December. 2019. Several states have enacted laws or introduced legislation to limit foreign ownership of farmland in the United States. The National Agricultural Law Center joins us on this Our Ohio Weekly to provide a status report on those laws and where Ohio stands on the issue of foreign-owned ag land.

Guests - Harrison Pittman, Director, National Agricultural Law Center

The Collegiate Farm Bureau at The Ohio State University serves many purposes. The organization provides support to students who are engaged in the field of agriculture and is a connection between current industry professionals and students involved in the industry. The organization also creates a diverse student organization that is educated and passionate about the agriculture industry, farm policy, and innovation. Learn more about Ohio State's Collegiate Farm Bureau on this week's Our Ohio Weekly

Guests - Collegiate Farm Bureau at The Ohio State University President Tyler Zimpfer and Vice President Joel Shoup

After beginning to recognize certain, disruptive trends emerging in the farming sector, Columbus-based Aimpoint Research launched a study giving them and the ag clients they serve an extensive look into the future of agriculture. This landmark research revealed the psychology of the farmers who are most likely to lead the industry in 2040 and both the internal and external factors impacting their success. This week on Our Ohio Weekly, learn more about the Farmer of the Future and how the evolution of agriculture might be shaping up.

Guests - Brett Sciotto, President and CEO of Aimpoint Research

Gregg Doud, Aimpoint Research VP of Global Situational Awareness and Chief Economist

The first electric vehicle was created in 1832. Needless to say the technology has come a long way since that time and now there are more than 10 million Electric Vehicles on the road. The vast majority of these EVs are on California, New York, Florida and Texas highways, but when will we start seeing EVs in rural areas and even put to use on farms? On the next Our Ohio Weekly, we take a look into EVs and agriculture.

Guests - Dale Arnold – Director of Energy Policy - Ohio Farm Bureau

Dr. Scott Shearer, a professor and chair of the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Ohio State University.

Farmers are used to getting paid for raising a quality product — soybeans, sweet corn, apples, peppers. But a farm’s value lies in its soils, too. What if farmers could get paid for building a quality soil? Just like markets for those soybeans, there’s now a small, but growing, commodity market for building and storing carbon in a farm’s soils. So how do farmers get paid for storing carbon? On the next Our Ohio Weekly, learn more about carbon markets.

Guests - Julia Brown, Communications and Media Relations Manager for the Ohio Soybean Association

Amanda Bahn-Ziegler, Account Manager for Truterra

Aldyen Donnelly, co-founder of Nori Inc

Mike Thompson and Bryan Randell from Indigo Ag

Ohio Farm Bureau’s farmer leaders, including young agricultural professionals, AgriPOWER Class XII members, along with county presidents and vice presidents, made their way to Washington, D.C. at the end of September. Over three days, participants heard from experts and, in turn, voiced their thoughts on topics as far reaching as tax policy to climate to broadband development. This week on Our Ohio Weekly, hear more about this opportunity for members to help legislators make the connection between what is happening on Ohio farms and what is being debated in the halls of Congress and within federal agencies.

Guests - Senator Rob Portman and Senator Sherrod Brown