COLUMBUS – Joe Everett, of Sidney, is the winner of Ohio Farm Bureau’s Excellence in Agriculture Award for 2021. The award recognizes successful young agricultural professionals who are actively contributing and growing through their involvement with Farm Bureau and agriculture.

Everett works with his father, uncle and cousin on the family cash grain operation where they raise corn and soybeans on more than 3,500 acres. He is a key contributor to the farm’s marketing, crop inputs strategy and seed selection, planning, shop maintenance and machinery repairs, and grain hauling.

“From as far back as I can remember, agriculture has always been a big part of my life. I believe you do not choose the farm life, it chooses you and over the years, that love for farming continued to grow inside my heart. Whether it was through the years of 4-H, FFA, Junior Fair Board, and listening in on my dad’s Farm Bureau Council when they would have their meetings at our house, being on the farm was always the dream I wanted when I grew up,” he said.

Everett has been a member of the Shelby County Farm Bureau since 2017 where he has served as a delegate to the Ohio Farm Bureau annual meeting and is a current member of the state Policy Development Committee. He is a member of his rural electric cooperative board, Farmer Veteran Coalition, Sidney American Legion, Homegrown by Heroes and the Troy City Schools Lunch Buddies Program.

Everett earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bluffton University and served six years in the U.S. Navy where he deployed on two different tours and completed two Naval Schools in Electronics and High Frequency Communications. He and his wife are the parents of two children.

As the 2021 winner, he receives expense-paid trips to the 2022 Young Agricultural Professionals Winter Leadership Experience and the 2021 Ohio Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, a media package, a $3,000 prize of choice, and he will represent Ohio at the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Atlanta in January. Prizes are courtesy of Farm Credit Mid-America, Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau.

The Excellence in Agriculture contest is a part of the Ohio Farm Bureau Young Agricultural Professionals program. Program participants are ages 18 to 35, single or married, who are interested in improving the business of agriculture, learning new ideas and developing leadership skills.

Ohio Farm Bureau’s mission is working together for Ohio farmers to advance agriculture and strengthen our communities. Learn more at ohiofarmbureau.org.