COLUMBUS, Ohio — The goal of Farm Bureau (FB) is to enhance and strengthen the lives of rural Americans and to help build strong, prosperous agricultural communities. Each year the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) honors the efforts of its top 24 FB programs in the nation with its County Activities of Excellence (CAE) awards.

Six FBs in Ohio (in counties of Champaign, Franklin, Gallia, Knox, Muskingum and Tuscarawas) were among the 24 honored nationwide.

“It’s outstanding that Ohio had one-fourth of the total winners, and it shows that our county Farm Bureaus have excellent programming across the state and have a strong understanding of what type of programs and events are appealing to both farmers and consumers,” said Ohio FB Executive Vice President Jack Fisher.

CAE identifies programs that serve as models of innovation for local activities and display the value of volunteers working together to build and strengthen their communities. The competition focuses on county efforts in education and agricultural promotion, member services, public relations and information, leadership development and policy implementation. Counties compete with FBs of similar membership size.

Champaign County won in the membership services category for its Farm Watch program, a joint rural crime watch between the local sheriff’s department and the county FB. The sheriff’s department notifies the FB about crimes and FB sends an email blast to members with details of the crime. Farm Watch signs have been posted on barns and outbuildings.

Franklin County was honored in the education and agricultural promotion category, for its “Breakfast on the Farm” event. A collaboration between Franklin and Madison county FBs, the event features made-to-order omelets, farm animals and conversations about how food goes from farm to plate. The target audience is urban and suburban residents so they can experience life on the farm.

Gallia County’s education and agricultural promotion award was for its Agriculture Awareness Day, a free field trip for all fourth-graders in county and city schools. Local FB members and producers provided hands-on educational presentations about agriculture.

Before the event, students drew a picture of what agriculture meant to them as part of a “Design Your T-shirt” contest. The winning design was featured on free T-shirts for the students.

Knox County’s Taste of Summer won in the education and agricultural promotion category. About 120 people attended the “friend-raising” event at a local beef cattle farm.

Participants enjoyed a four-course dinner prepared by a local chef, as well as local wine and craft beer tastings and hors d’oeuvres. The sold-out event helped create connections among farmers and consumers and raised $2,500 for the United Way.

Muskingum County won in the public relations and information category for its ATV Conservation & Farm Tour. The event connected community members with farmers by having 310 people on 135 ATVs travel more than 40 miles through eight unique agriculture operations. Participants had 30 minutes at each stop to listen to owners describe their operation and ask the owners questions.

Tuscarawas County’s “Farmtastic Google Agventures” won in the education and agricultural promotion category. The FB worked with four other county FBs to develop science and reading curriculum focused on agricultural topics for fourth-and fifth-graders.

The “Agventure” consisted of students receiving an Ag Mag that provided background on the topic to be presented. Students later interacted with agriculture experts from their working environment through a live 45-minute video and audio session using Google Hangouts.

All six Ohio winners will display their programs, which were conducted in 2014, at the AFBF annual convention and IDEAg Trade Show in San Diego, Calif., in January 2015. County FBs also will receive a $2,250 stipend to apply toward travel and exhibition costs.

The winning county FBs also are invited to participate in Ohio FB’s Community Showcase during its annual meeting in December.