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Five Ohio FB winners headed to Seattle convention

By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

CINCINNATI, Ohio — The winners of three popular Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) awards were honored recently at its annual meeting.

Andy Vance and Lindsay Hill of DeGraff were the winners of the Excellence in Agriculture Award. Brandon and Julia Weber of Jackson have been selected as winners of the Outstanding Young Farmer Contest, and Cassandra Palsgrove of Pickerington was the winner of the Discussion Meet.

Excellence in Agriculture

This award recognizes successful people age 35 or younger who are involved in farming, but whose primary occupations are not farming or owning an agricultural business.

Hill and Vance own and operate radio station ABN, Ohio’s oldest and most widely listened to agricultural radio news network. They were both college interns at the station when it was owned by the Johnson family.

After popular farm radio personality Ed Johnson died, ABN was sold to Clear Channel Communications. Eventually, Vance and Hill both moved to radio station WRFD and while they were there, in 2004, they married.

“In 2005 we decided to launch our own radio network called the BARN, or Buckeye Ag Radio Network,” Vance said. “Then in December of 2006 we had the chance to buy ABN Radio from Clear Channel. So we came full circle.

“We started there as college interns and had the chance to buy the company a few years later. To say it was a leap of faith was an understatement.”

Buying the radio station was a big undertaking, but Vance and Hill felt they were ready for it and that it was necessary. “It has paid dividends for us in terms of our growth as broadcasters and as advocates for agriculture,” Vance said.

The couple also own a herd of registered Shorthorn beef cattle.
Winning the award was overwhelming, Vance said. “To be up there on that stage and to hear them call out your name was exciting, exhilarating, but a little overwhelming,” he added. “Especially when we realized that now we have the honor of representing Ohio at the American Farm Bureau competition in a few weeks, in Seattle.”

Outstanding Young Farmer

This award recognizes individuals or couples age 35 or younger for their accomplishments in their farming operations and their leadership in the agricultural community.

The Webers are eighth-generation farmers who raise cattle, hay, wheat,  rye, corn and vegetable crops. They have an on-site farm market selling pumpkins, decorative ornamental gourds, mums, apples and cider. They operate farm tours, a haunted corn maze and hayrides.

They’re proud of the high tunnel greenhouse where they grow tomatoes eight months out of the year. This is a greenhouse structure with plastic over it that prolongs the tomato growing season, said Brandon, whose family has been on the land since 1835. They start the tomato plants from seed in January.
“We transplant them around the first part of March when they’re tough enough to go in the ground. By the first part of June, we’re harvesting our first tomatoes,” he said.

“People are really excited when they can come out and get those first tomatoes,” Julia said.

They keep right on harvesting up until about Christmas, Brandon said.

That high tunnel greenhouse is right over the spot where Brandon’s grandmother’s garden used to be, said Julia, who is proud of how the whole family works to get the job done. That includes Brandon’s dad and the couple’s three children – Sara, 12, Tyler, 11, and Blake, 7.

“They all help on the farm,” Julia said. “They’re kids. Sometimes they enjoy it; sometimes they don’t.”

She is a program technician for the Farm Service Agency and has served as a Jackson/Vinton County Farm Bureau trustee and on numerous county committees. Brandon is a county Farm Bureau board trustee and serves on the local Soil and Water Conservation District board.

Discussion Meet

This annual contest tests participants’ subject knowledge, problem-solving abilities and personal and small group communications skills. Palsgrove and other finalists discussed what can be done to encourage young people to get involved in the agricultural industry and how to bridge the gap between farmers and lawmakers, in order to have an influence in the changing political environment.
Palsgrove is an agricultural educator at Bloom Carroll High School; the first topic was a strong point for her.

“Being an agriculture educator, I have a lot of experience with youth and teaching them agriculture,” she said. “That is something I get excited in talking about. That topic had a lot for me.
“I think it all comes down to education. You teach students what they can get involved in, and get them excited about it, then obviously we’re going to draw them into our industry more. So for me the biggest thing is education – agricultural awareness and understanding what the industry is all about.”

Palsgrove does not come from a farming background, which she considers a plus because she understands both “sides of the story,” she said. When she was a high school student in Canal Winchester, the guidance counselor advised that if she liked animals she should take agricultural classes – so that is what she did.

She enjoyed taking part in the discussion meet and being part of a professional adult organization.

“I’m so used to coaching kids,” she said. “It is much different when you’re sitting in the hot seat performing. So for me, I guess it was a teachable moment for me so that I could carry on those things when I coach my students. It is really good to interact with your peers and hear both sides of the story.”

The award winners will all receive expense-paid trips to the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting in Seattle next week, to represent Ohio in the national contest, and other prizes.

1/6/2010