Hello. I hope that the wintery weather hasn’t gotten all of you down. A big thank you to our

members who are braving the weather on a daily basis to work, care for livestock and to keep your

farms and families going!

This new year is exciting for our county Farm Bureau as we are working on some great projects.

Right now, counties are focusing on signing new members and we hope that if you know someone

who is not a member that you can urge them to join! The Farm Bureau has been busy working on

many initiatives like the 2014 Farm Bill passage, the mission creep of OSHA (Occupational, Safety &

Health Administration) onto grain operations and water quality legislation. In addition, we are

helping lead a new generation of people into the agriculture and food field by sponsoring several

scholarships in the counties and attendees to the recent Young Ag Professionals conference.

All in all, we hope that we are representing you and your vision as members of the Ohio Farm

Bureau. If you have things you would like to see the county do or if you would like to get more

involved, drop us a line at jsmith@ofbf.org or 877-775-7642!

Until next time just know Farm Bureau is working for you and as always

thank you for your membership!

Organization Director

Photos by: Pat Elsass

We are in the early stages of a great recycling opportunity! Auglaize, Mercer, Logan and Shelby

County Farm Bureau are partnering with several groups on a farm recycling project. Gather your

bale wrap, silage plastic, twine and take it to county specific locations to be recycled. The Counties

are working with the Overbey Recycling company in Lewistown, Ohio to take these farm products

and reuse them. Below is the Auglaize County recycling drop off location, handling tips, and sorting

categories when gathering and preparing the farm recyclables. Please contact the county Farm

Bureau office for more details and check back as we finalize the other county drop off locations.

Ohio Recycling 7837 St. Rt. 274 in Chickasaw 419- 925-4444

Every Thursday

Handling Tips... 1. Shake or brush off foliage, soil, stones, etc. Extra care should be given

to the bottom piece. Do NOT recycle if it is too dirty.

2. Try not to run equipment on plastic, if possible: this will keep it clean.

3. Cut plastic film before removing silage/haylage.

4. Fully empty plastic fertilizer, feed or seed sacks. Shake/brush as needed.

5. AG chemical containers need to be TRIPLE rinsed please, prior to being dropped off at facility.

6. Cut into pieces of size and weight that one person can handle. This will help all of us!

Sorting Categories... 1. Seed Totes 2. Plastic Twine 3. Netting, Mesh Seed & Grain Bags 4. Silage Bags 5. Bale Wrap 6. Ag Tanks

Need some Easter Basket stuffers?

What about books selected by the Ohio Farm Bureau for the Children’s Literature Award. The 2014 Award winning book is The Beeman by Laurie Krebs and Valeria Cis. Past winners include The Guardian Team (2013), How Did That Get In My Lunchbox? (2012), and Seed Soil Sun (2011). To order go to… http://ofbf.org or contact the county Farm Bureau office, 877-775-7642 or mercer@ofbf.org. Because it’s never too early to start reading and learning about agriculture!

The County will be accepting scholarship applications once again this year. Applicants must be a high school senior entering college or a college freshman entering his/her second year of college in the fall of 2014 majoring in agriculture. Parents of the applicant must be members of the Mercer County Farm Bureau in good standing. All applicants must complete an application and participate in a personal interview.

One $500 scholarship will be payable to the student after presentation of their first quarter/semester grades is made to the county office. Student must maintain a 2.0 GPA for the quarter/semester. The scholarship is based upon scholastic achievement, extracurricular activities, and a personal interview. All interviews will be held shortly after the April 18 application deadline. Applicants will be notified of the date, time and location of the interviews.

ALL APPLICATIONS NEED TO BE RETURNED TO THE COUNTY FARM BUREAU OFFICE BY FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2014

Thursday, April 10 7pm St. Marys High School Auditorium 2250 State Route 66N in St. Marys

Join us for a CAUV Update meeting hosted by the Mercer, Auglaize and Van Wert Co. Farm Bureaus. These counties are up for CAUV reevaluation next fall so members are encouraged to attend and learn more about what’s to come.

Guest speakers include Leah Curtis, Director of Ag. Law at the Ohio Farm Bureau, and Dick Hoffman an appraiser. You must RSVP the County FB Office by Friday, April 4 by calling 877-775-7642.

http://shelby.ofbf.org

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Auglaize-Logan-Mercer-Shelby-County-Farm-Bureau

http://mercer.ofbf.org

County Blog

For nearly two decades EyeMed has provided flexible,

comprehensive vision wellness plans. EyeMed currently serves

the vision care needs of more than 140 million members

through 4,000 clients.

EyeMed Vision Care discount vision plan, offered in partnership

with Medical Mutual, provides vision care decision tools and

education to support eye health and wellness needs while

complementing overall health care objectives.

Ohio Farm Bureau members can receive discounts on routine

eye exams, lenses, frames, laser vision correction and more.

Choose from thousands of independent optometrists and

ophthalmologists and from participating retail chains such as

LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical and

JC Penney Optical.

Email us your favorite recipes and you may see them

featured in our future newsletters… mercer@ofbf.org

Administration

Jill Smith Organization Director

Barb Longfellow & Joy Aufderhaar

Administrative Assistants

Officers Dennis Howick

President

Steve Zumberge Vice President

Theresa Howick Secretary

Dave Moorman Treasurer

Trustees

Bill Evers

Nikki Hawk

Mark Houts

Gary Mescher

Rick Uhlenhake

Stan Nuding

Leadership Cabinet

Lisa Dues Communications

Rick Uhlenhake Organization

Nikki Hawk Membership

Theresa Howick Public Policy

On Saturday, September 14 more than 160 Darke and Mercer

Co. Farm Bureau members and their families took part in our

inaugural joint County Annual Meeting! With a desire to

change things up and offer our members a thank you for

belonging, the counties worked together to provide a fun

evening out. After a wonderful meal and meeting, we were

entertained by special guest comedian Drew Hastings. A

nationally recognized talent, Drew is the mayor of Hillsboro,

Ohio, and a cattle farmer. Thanks to all who came and shared

the evening of fellowship and many laughs with us!

Special THANKS to our sponsors: Cooper Farms; Farm Credit

Mid America, Mercer County; Howick Farms; Jordan, Roberts,

Poff, Nationwide; Renick Brown, Nationwide; Wuekber Farms;

Bob Mayo Family Farm; Bergman Seed and Service; Leffeld

Equipment/Ken-Feld Group; Osgood State Bank; St. Henry

Bank; Stuck Seeds; Trupointe; Beth Brandewie Weber,

Nationwide; Cy Schwieterman, Inc.; Ellen Joslin; Fullenkamps

Frenchtown Trailer; Jon Bergman Channel Seed; Matt & Morgan

Aultman - Young Ag Professionals; Mercer County Electric; and

North Star Hardware & Implement.

CALIFORNIA, MO Arkansas Valley Feathers Inc.

CARTHAGENA St. Charles Center

CELINA CBS Automotive Supply Inc. Celina Animal Hospital Chesser Dairy LLC Cisco Funeral Home D B L Inc. Dippold Brothers Farms Farlane Farm Farm Credit Service of Mid America Fennig-Homan Agri Business Inc. G M T R Farm Partnership H & S Company, Inc. Hellwarth Farm Inc. Heynes Grade A Eggs/Painting/ Sandblasting Houts Farms Houts Partnership Howick's Sales & Service John Fleck & Sons Inc. Kleinhenz & Sons Livestock Knapke Farms Knapke Law Office, LLC L & M Fleck Farms Loyal Order Moose 1473 Mercer Landmark MSK Partnership Murlin & Sons Inc. N & R Dairy Farm Neptune Hot Glass Nor-J Farms Pax Machine Works R & D Auto Sales Inc. Remax S & J Ranch FLP Shanthi Satyanarayana MD Soshine Communications Corp/ WKKI Standard Printing Company Vantilburg Farms Inc. Wurster Brothers LLC

CHICKASAW Countryside Consulting and Supply LLC Minton Veterinary Service

CINCINNATI Matthews Farms

COLDWATER Alfred Sudhoff & Sons B & G Farms Boeckman & Son Poultry Coldwater Auction Service Coldwater FFA Coldwater Implement Co Coldwater Medical Inc. Creek Side Farm Diller Custom Pumping LLC Dippold Family Enterprises, LLC Frywise LLC Gold Banner Farm Helena Agronomic Center Hemmelgarn & Sons Je Jee Inc. K9 Clubhouse LLC Kahlig Bros. Custom Pumping Inc. Kleinhenz Brothers Livestock Inc. Lefeld Implement Inc. Pineview Pumping R C C Outlaws LLC Timmerman Trucking Uhlenhake Dairy Val Products Inc. Wenning's Dairy

FORT RECOVERY A & N Farms Inc. A1 Ag. Services, LLC Abels Dairy Farms LLC Alig Farms Amy Wendel Family Health LLC Banks of Wabash Poultry Big K Mills Inc. Brunswick Poultry Cooper Farms Inc. Eichenauer Farms Fort Recovery Equity Inc. Fort Recovery FFA Ft Recovery Lumber Company Gaerke Brothers Glacier Hill Farm Hess Family Farms Hull Brothers Inc. J B Truck Service & Parts Inc. JR Manufacturing Lennartz Farms Les Wenning Motors Inc. Link Bros. Mercer Co. Electric Inc. Overman Dairy Pineview Farms R F Schaefer & Sons

FORT RECOVERY cont. Schmitt Fur Farm, Inc. Schwieterman Egg Farm LLC Schwieterman Farms Walnut Lane Farm Weitzel Eggs LLC Werling & Sons, Inc.

HERMITAGE, PA Joy Cone Co.

MARIA STEIN Albers Inc. Bertke Dairy Buschur’s Unlimited Inc. Dirksen Dairy Farm Droesch Farm Service Grassland Farms H & R Dairy J & A Poultry, Inc. Koesters Swine Farm Lamm’s Insurance Agency Leonard Otte & Sons Maria Stein Trenching & Excavating Inc. Marion Local FFA Mark Homan & Sons Meier Dairy MS Welding LLC Schwieterman Family Physicians Inc. Thobe-Dippold Trucking Wuebker Poultry Inc.

MENDON Bennie Young Construction Big R Farms (Seed Sales) Country Cuts Hair Salon Gallman Farms Glenco Farms Jim Shaffer Realty Piper Welding LLC

NEW BREMEN Dahlinghaus Farms J P Poultry Robert E. Fleck & Sons Partnership

ROCKFORD A & A Greenhouse LLC Brand It Marketing Communications Hileman Farms JR Farms Inc.

ROCKFORD cont. Ketcham Ripley Land Investments KFS Farms Kuhn Farms Inc. Lee Farms Inc. McDonough Farms Parkway FFA PDH Farms Inc. Picket Fence Flowers & Gifts LTD Red Barn Farm En & LLC Riverside Charter Schumm Farms Inc. Stober Farms Inc. The Gamble Brothers Utgard Farms W Rogers Farms Inc.

ROSSBURG H Tobe Farms

SPENCERVILLE Central Ohio Farmers McMichael Bros. Farms

ST. HENRY B & L Construction CJR Poultry & Swine Inc. Cy Schwieterman Inc. Franck Plumbing & Heating Co. Inc. Frederick R. Rose, Trustee Gelhaus Farms Indian Trail Pullets, LLC M.J. Homan Poultry Farm Moeller Door Sales Moorman Farms Philothea Country Club R J Dues Inc. Rindler Poultry Rindler Truss LTD Schockman Lumber Company Siefring Farms St. Henry Bank St. Henry FFA Stachler Farms Inc. Theo Farms Inc.

ST. MARYS Owen Hall Auctioneers

WILLSHIRE Dellinger Well Drilling Inc. Hamrick Farms Inc.

Nationwide Insurance & Financial Services Agency

Beth Brandewie Weber, Celina Heiby-Poff Agency, Celina

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Wapakoneta, OH. 45895

Permit #30

Mercer County Farm Bureau 2014 March Newsletter

Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Inc.

Serving Auglaize, Logan, Mercer, & Shelby Counties 105 East Bremen Street

P.O. Box 310 New Knoxville, Ohio 45871

Phone: 419-753-2562 or toll free 877-775-7642 Email: mercer@ofbf.org

NEW! Farm Recycling

Project

Ohio Farm Bureau Children’s Literature

Award

Ag. Breakfast

IN THIS ISSUE...

CAUV Update

Scholarships

Available

Feature Benefit

EyeMed

Winter Recipe

Darke & Mercer Annual Meeting

Business Members