Ohio Farm Bureau Podcast

What started as an unprecedented meeting between members of American Farm Bureau and America’s cattle organizations has turned into meaningful legislation that is looking to dramatically change how cattle are marketed. These changes would give more transparency to the process and more income for the farmer. On this week’s Our Ohio Weekly, we talk about the issues involving cattle marketing and wha...

There is always a lot to take in at the Ohio Farm Bureau Young Agricultural Professionals Winter Leadership Experience. Plenty of educational seminars, resources for new and beginning farmers and an abundance of networking opportunities. At the event last weekend in Cincinnati, attendees also got some education and advice from a panel of more seasoned farmers, including Steve Hirsch, a fifth-gener...

Earlier this month, the American Farm Bureau Federation hosted their 103rd Annual Convention. Members from across the country traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to celebrate successes of 2021 and set the organization’s priorities for 2022. Some VIPs also took part in the event, including AFBF President Zippy Duvall and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to share their expe...

The first part of a new year is always a great time to reflect on the past 12 months and set goals for the next 12. What went right, what went wrong and what did we learn? On this Our Ohio Weekly, we ask those questions from an agricultural perspective and get the answers from an economist, an agronomist and an agribusiness leader. 00:00 - Dr. Roger Cryan, American Farm Bureau’s Chief Economist, C...

For most of the past two years, while most of the world was put on pause, farmers never stopped working and neither did their associations. Along with Ohio Farm Bureau, organizations like the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association and Ohio Soybean Association continue to advocate for trade policies that work for Ohio farmers, as well as monitor water quality and biofuel legislation, engage legisl...

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 an...

Farmers will be the first to tell you there is no better life than life on the farm. But it certainly isn’t for everybody. Early mornings, long days and dirt under the nails isn’t as appealing as most other jobs out there, but nonetheless those not-so-attractive jobs still need to be done. On this Our Ohio Weekly, find out how the big picture of Food and Ag Labor looks and what worker shortages me...

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...

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 environm...

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 o...

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 engaged in the field of agriculture. The organization also works to familiarize members with, and to maintain cooperative relationships with, OFB and AFBF and i...

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 this Our Ohio Weekly, we take a look into EVs...

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 thi...

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 thi...

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 Ohi...

Twenty Ohio Farm Bureau leaders are serving on the organization's 2021 Policy Development Committee. The committee collects and organizes public policy recommendations from county Farm Bureaus and presents the final policy suggestions to be voted on by Ohio Farm Bureau’s delegates during the state annual meeting in December. In its initial session, the committee heard from government leaders, subj...

According to Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, nearly 31% of Ohio or over 8 million acres of the state is under forest cover. Almost 6 million of those acres are held by some 336,000 nonindustrial private landowners. If you are one of those owners, you probably already know that properly managing your woodland improves forest health, aesthetics, and wildlife ha...

Launched by Governor Mike DeWine in 2019, H2Ohio is a comprehensive water quality initiative that is addressing serious water issues that have been building in Ohio for decades. Areas of concern include harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie caused by phosphorus runoff from farm fertilizer, wastewater, and home sewage treatment systems due to aging infrastructure, and lead contamination from old water...

Earlier this year, Governor DeWine signed House Bill 2 into law, creating the Ohio Broadband Expansion Program. Then, as part of the state’s new biennial budget, $250 million dollars was earmarked to allow internet service providers to apply for grants that will help fund the infrastructure needed to provide faster internet access to underserved rural Ohio communities. How soon will Ohioans see a...

The Ohio State University’s Farm Science Review, which was held online last year because of the pandemic, will return this year to be live and in person for the 59th annual event. Farm Science Review attracts over 100,000 visitors from all over the United States and Canada, who come for three days to peruse 4,000 product lines from 600 commercial exhibitors, and learn the latest in agricultural pr...

If you were to visit 80 Acres Farms you might be looking for tractors, silos or acres and acres of soil, but those things typical to agriculture are nowhere in sight at the Hamilton, Ohio facility. Instead, the farm is located inside a huge controlled environment facility. This week, find out how vertical farming works and how it will fit into the future of American agriculture? 00:00 - Rebecca Ha...

The business of news - how it's generated, how it's distributed and how it's consumed has changed exponentially in what seems like a very short time and it keeps changing. What used to be local TV stations and hundreds of local newspapers has morphed into countless television networks and, sadly, very few newspapers covering small town America. That was the topic of conversation at a recent lunche...

For generations it has been ingrained in our society that after you graduate high school, the next logical step is to continue your education at the college level. Although there is value in getting a degree in a specialty of your choice, many students are finding a different path to a successful career by foregoing 2 or 4 year universities and diving right into a career. Realizing the growth of t...

The saying “necessity is the mother of innovation” has rarely been more true for modern society than it was during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. That is particularly true for the farm and food sector. Farmers found new ways to market their products, manufacturers changed how food was packaged and delivered and more made-at-home recipes were Googled by the American public than ever before. T...

In light of climate-induced risks and uncertainties like increasing extreme rainfall events and warmer temperatures, a team made up of research, extension, and outreach professionals at Ohio State are working together to identify how to promote sustainability and resilience in the Eastern Corn Belt. They are also trying to understand how farmers’ can adapt to these changing conditions while suppor...