The Farm Income Enhancement Program hosted a visit by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation to AEDE to discuss research, outreach, and student engagement opportunities on February 14, 2024. Evan Callicoat, Leah Curtis, Whittney Bowers, and Brad Bales from the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation met with AEDE faculty and students with the goal of increasing engagement and collaboration. Evan Callicoat is an OSU alum who graduated from our Agribusiness and Applied Economics Program and is now a Director of State Policy at the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.
AEDE faculty specializing in Agricultural Economics (Dr. Ani Katchova, Dr. Margaret Jodlowski, Dr. Seungki Lee, and Dr. Chen-Ti Chen) discussed their current research and outreach projects that are of interest to the Ohio Farm Bureau. A variety of topics were discussed such as Ohio farm finances, farm labor, the upcoming farm bill, commodity markets, and livestock production. OFBF staff discussed major initiatives that they have been engaged with including farmland preservation, the Farm Bill, the CAUV program, H2Ohio, and the Ohio Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program among a few. The Ag Econ faculty noted that “engaging with the Farm Bureau gave us many ideas to make our research and outreach programs even more relevant and timely for the Ohio agricultural sector.”
The Farm Income Enhancement Program represented by Dr. Ani Katchova, Farm Income Enhancement Chair, and her students Xiaoyi Fang, Rae Ju, Zhining Sun, Vishavdeep Sharma, Suraksha Baral, and Charles Smith discussed their research and outreach projects with the Ohio Farm Bureau staff. Their presentation titled Preserving Ohio farms and Ohio Farmland focused on issues surrounding how to preserve land for the generation of farmers – as the new 2022 Census of Agriculture data shows that Ohio has lost close to 2,000 farms and 300,000 acres of farmland since 2017. Their presentation also included an overview of the programs aiming to help Ohio beginning farmers and an analysis of the financial condition of Ohio farms. Students Xiaoyi Fang and Zhining Sun noted that “Ohio Farm Bureau staff pointed out the major initiatives and issues in Ohio agriculture that need our attention for future research.”
Lastly, AEDE and OFBF discussed opportunities to include more policy content related to Ohio agriculture in the Agribusiness and Applied Economics and EEDS majors. Dr. Anna Parkman and Dr. Brian Roe highlighted ways to engage our students with the Ohio Farm Bureau and provide them understanding of the farm sector in Ohio.
The Ohio Farm Bureau has helped shape our AEDE future research, outreach, and teaching programs to be more relevant and impactful to Ohio’s agricultural sector. AEDE faculty and graduate students hope to have made a difference by producing relevant research and outreach on Ohio agriculture that have been disseminated to agricultural stakeholders and by providing educational opportunities for our students.
