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Patterson is the new president of Ohio Farm Bureau

Bill Patterson, a farmer from Chesterland, is the new president of Ohio Farm Bureau.

“The opportunity to serve as president is humbling and exciting,” he says. “Since I was born we’ve always been involved with Farm Bureau. It was certainly something that we recognized that our service to agriculture needed to be part of what we do if we hoped to have a successful farm and be able to farm in the future.”

Patterson succeeds Frank Burkett, who served as the organization’s president for five years. Burkett left the OFBF board to stand for election to the Nationwide board of directors, where he was elected April 1.

Patterson says he’s looking forward to furthering OFBF’s mission of working for the state’s farmers to advance agriculture and strengthen communities.  

“We want to reach out and talk about what we’re doing and who we’re doing it for and why we’re doing it and build those relationships with everybody whether it’s our neighbors, legislators, or the people that sell our product,” he says.  

He says water quality, broadband, and more continue to be top of mind for farm bureau members.

“We want to make sure we’re solving water quality issues,” he says. “Other priorities are rural broadband, tax codes, and things the communities need to be able to build upon to be successful— we’re convinced if communities are strong, agriculture will be strong, and the state will be strong.”   

Patterson and his family raise apples, strawberries, peaches, and produce maple syrup. They also wholesale apple cider in northeast Ohio and run an agritourism operation including a farm market, bakery, fall fun fest, and pick-your-own apples and strawberries.

He has been OFBF’s first vice president for the past five years and previously served as treasurer. He is a 26-year member of the Geauga County Farm Bureau and will continue to serve as the District 4 trustee representing Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake and Trumbull counties.

Replacing Patterson as first vice president is Cy Prettyman of New Bloomington. He assumes the second highest elected office in the organization and will remain as the District 7 representative, covering Crawford, Marion, Morrow and Richland counties.

OFBF’s new treasurer, the organization’s third highest elected official, is Lane Osswald of Eldorado. Osswald will remain the representative for District 18, serving members in Butler, Hamilton, Montgomery and Preble counties.

Audio: Bill Patterson