Seventeen farmers and agribusiness professionals have been selected to participate in Ohio Farm Bureau’s 2019-20 AgriPower Institute. The goal of the elite yearlong training program is to help participants become community leaders and advocates for agriculture. During the program, participants will attend multiple sessions to learn about public policy matters important to their communities, as well as the state of Ohio, the nation and the world.

Class XI held its first meeting in Columbus in July, and its members are pictured above: John Bolte of Tiffin (first row, left), Jon Brookbank of North Ridgeville, Lauren Fehlan of Troy, Kelli Hartman of Wilmington, Emmalee Wince of Salem, Kenzie Johnston of Richwood and Rich Maxwell of Glenford; Kevin Ward of Upper Sandusky (second row, left), Matt McFadden of Wilmington, Devin Trout of Columbus, Ashley Phillips of Warsaw, Ashley Brucker of Columbus, Vicki Vance of Gambier and Kayla Miller of Archbold; and Jared Persinger of Washington Court House (third row, left), Josh Ison of Moscow and Vince Untied of Newark.

Varied skill development

Throughout the year, Class XI participants will develop important skills necessary to become effective leaders and advocates, including spokesperson and media training, etiquette training, social networking, communications and more. One of the sessions will take place in Washington, D.C., to give participants a better understanding of national and global issues; another will be held out of state so class members can learn about the differences and similarities in agriculture from state to state.

“For more than 10 years, AgriPower has helped develop passionate and influential leaders who work hard to improve and preserve both agriculture and their local communities,” says Melinda Witten, AgriPower director.

Partnering with Ohio Farm Bureau on AgriPower Class XI are American Farmland Trust; Cargill; OSU Extension, Delaware County; Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation; Ohio Soybean Council; members of AgriPower Class X; Southern Ohio Ag and Community Development Fund; and Farm Bureaus in Clinton, Coshocton, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton and Knox counties.

For more information about AgriPower, visit ofb.ag/agripower.

Source: OFB, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.