The Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) Board of Trustees has five district seats up for election this year. All eligible candidates interested in running for the OSC Board must obtain at least 15 valid signatures on the petition available at www.soyohio.org/petition.

All petitions must be submitted to the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) by mail and must be postmarked no later than July 5, 2024 and received by July 12, 2024.

OSC is the Qualified State Soybean Board for Ohio and manages state soybean checkoff dollars. The OSC Board is made up of farmer volunteers who direct the investment of checkoff dollars to improve the profitability of Ohio soybean farmers.

Districts up for election are:

• District 1 – Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Williams Counties. Incumbent Todd Hesterman is eligible to run for re-election
• District 2 – Erie, Ottawa, Sandusky, and Wood Counties. Incumbent Nathan Eckel is term-limited
• District 5 – Allen, Hancock, and Putnam Counties. Incumbent Jeff McKanna is eligible to run for re-election
• District 9 – Delaware, Marion, Morrow, and Union Counties. Incumbent Mike Ralph is eligible to run for re-election
• District 13 – Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, Highland, and Warren Counties. Incumbent David Clark is eligible to run for re-election

To be eligible for election to the OSC Board, you must live in a county in the districts listed and be a soybean producer engaged in the growing of soybeans in the State of Ohio, who owns or shares the ownership and risk of loss of soybeans at any time during the three-year period immediately preceding November 15 of the current year.

Eligible producers who have contributed to the soybean checkoff and have submitted a petition with the verified signatures of 15 other eligible soybean producers who reside in the respective district shall be determined by ODA as candidates for election. OSC Trustees serve one term of three years and may be elected to serve up to three consecutive terms.

For questions, please contact Kirk Merritt, OSC Executive Director, at kmerritt@soyohio.org.