Ohio Farm Bureau has recently made two appointments to bolster its support of young people in agriculture.

Mary Klopfenstein of Delphos has moved into her new role as Young Ag Professional and Ag Literacy Program specialist, and Katie Share of Columbus has taken on Klopfenstein’s previous role as ExploreAg and Youth Development specialist.

Klopfenstein’s new role will add the duties of working with the Young Ag Professionals state committee and focusing on YAP programming, which provides leadership development and professional growth opportunities for Farm Bureau members ages 18-35.

Share was most recently the organization’s operations coordinator. With this promotion, she will oversee planning, marketing and implementation of the ExploreAg program, which the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation established to encourage young people to think critically about the food and farm industry and the issues associated with providing safe and sustainable food and fiber.

Share will also continue to serve as staff lead with Collegiate Farm Bureau members.

Before joining the OFBF staff, Klopfenstein was at Illinois Farm Bureau as a youth and collegiate program coordinator. She serves as the northwest Ohio representative on the CFAES Alumni Society board of directors and is an Allen County Farm Bureau member.

Previously, Share worked with Prospective Student Services in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University. In that role, she provided administrative support, met with prospective students and co-advised the ambassador team.

Share is a recent graduate of OFB’s AgriPower program, a leadership program that helps agricultural advocates gain influence over public policy issues that affect their businesses and communities. She is a Franklin County Farm Bureau member.

Source: OFBF