AgriPOWER Session #3

This post comes a bit after our last meeting, something about being a full time student as well as my involvement with the fraternity and doing work on the farm back home has kept me from getting this update out.

In our third session we spent a few day sin the state's capital where we learned about state government, Farm Bureau's involvement in policy making and met with some leaders from various organizations throughout both state government and agriculture.

We were privileged to take several tours through the capitol building, state house and state senate building. Probably the best part of AgriPOWER is the connections I have been able to make with leaders of both our industry and our country. We spent time meeting with many state representatives, supreme court justices, state treasurer, director of Ohio dept. of agriculture and many lobbyists from many different areas.

I am always in awe when I go to government buildings such as the Ohio capitol and their spectacular beauty. The amount of time and energy put into building such creative pieces such as these buildings makes me think of the amount of time, importance and professionalism that should (and is) involved in governing a state.

I can only imagine the amount of time, stress and energy that is involved in working in these places, just like we all have in our own area of work. Ohio is such a great place to live and as I grow up, a place I am more and more proud to call my home. The government in our state is such a strong supporter of agriculture is continuing to support us and work with us as we progress into the future.

I reflect on my time in the AgriPOWER program and the things I have learned up to this point and I realize that we wouldn't be in the same place we are today with out the support of our state government. As an advocate for agriculture I recognize the importance of educating the non-farm public about our industry, and the government is no different. They need to know who we are, what we do and why we do it. They are here to help us succeed and grow as we move into the future. This is just another reason why I am excited to be a young agriculture professional and advocate for agriculture.