Small ruminant workshop focuses on parasite management

Ohio Bits: Jodi Beekman and Nick Kennedy earn new appointments at Ohio Farm Bureau.

May 12, 2023

The Bargar Farm and Ohio State University Extension will be hosting a small ruminant and integrated parasite management workshop on June 2.

Participants will get hands-on experience with parasite diagnostics and learn about parasite management in sheep and goats. FAMACHA certification will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon, and participants will spend the afternoon from 1 to 3 p.m. conducting parasite egg counts. The workshop will be located at Bargar Farm, 36505 Deersville Road, Cadiz, Ohio.

Cost of the workshop is $20 per person and includes lunch. Call OSU Extension at 740-264-2212 to register. Send checks to OSU Extension, Jefferson County, 500 Market St., Suite 512, Steubenville, OH.

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity.osu.edu. If you require accommodations to attend this event, call 740-264-2212.

Jodi Beekman of Centerburg, Ohio, has been named chief financial officer for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.

Beekman will be responsible for coordinating the accounting and finance of the organization, subsidiary companies and management contracts. She will provide oversight for the organization as it relates to tax filing on federal, state and local levels — and oversee the financial resources of the organization as it relates to investments and daily cash management.

Beekman will work with the organization's current CFO, Irene Messmer, for a period of time before taking sole responsibility for her new position. Messmer plans to retire at the end of May 2024.

Before joining Farm Bureau, Beekman spent the previous two years as senior vice president finance and operations at Children's Hunger Alliance and 13 years as vice president of finance and administration at Experience Columbus.

Beekman received her bachelor's degree in accounting from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and is a certified public accountant. Her father, Dr. James Henschen, was a large animal veterinarian in the state of Ohio for more than 50 years.

Nick Kennedy of North Canton, Ohio, has been promoted to senior organization director for Ohio Farm Bureau. He will continue to serve members in Columbiana, Mahoning, Portage and Stark counties, and adds the role of lead organization director in the North Royalton office to his duties.

Kennedy is a native of Wauseon, Ohio, where he worked on the family dairy and crop farm. An alumnus of Wauseon FFA, he was a member of Fulton County 4-H and Fulton County Jr. fair board as well.

Kennedy has been with Ohio Farm Bureau for 20 years, beginning his career after graduating with a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 2004. While at Ohio State, he was a member and past president of the Collegiate 4-H Club and a member of the student council for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Professionally, Kennedy was a member of the 26th class of Leadership Stark County and received the Stark County Farm Bureau Distinguished Service Award in 2020.

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