COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jack Fisher, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) executive vice president, will retire sometime in 2016. Fisher came into office in 1996.

"It’s been a great period of time," he said. "I’ve enjoyed every day of it. I am fortunate to have good health to move into the next phase."

The discussion on animal welfare and animal rights came to the forefront during Fisher’s tenure, and he called that one of his biggest challenges.

It was a time to bring together all facets of agriculture and then to reach out with one voice to consumers. That led to establishing the Livestock Care Standards Board.

"There is still a need to reach out to consumers and learn their perspective, what they think, because their relationship is what they know based on their dog and their cat, maybe a horse – they come from a different perspective from a farmer in raising animals for milk and eggs and meat," he pointed out.

Fisher sees the need for farmers to keep a strong working relationship with consumers as the greatest challenge facing his successor. He called it a need for permission to farm.

"Whether it is animal issues, water issues that get right into our inputs, fertilizer, chemicals and tillage, the opportunity to even use tile and drain our farms," he said.

"Are we going to have this trust factor with our consumers so we have their permission to continue farming in a sustainable way, to use all the tools that are at our disposal, all the things that will allow us to be able to feed 9 billion people in the next several years?"

Fisher was most proud of being an advocate for "one agriculture" – the grain and livestock farmers, large and small farmers, the land grant university, having an opportunity to hear everybody out and always nurture the concept of one agriculture and everyone working together for the benefit of farmers and consumers.

Working with Fisher had been great, said OFBF President Steve Hirsch. Fisher is always looking 5-10 years into the future, thinking how a decision made today will affect everyone five years down the road, Hirsch explained.

"You get that into your thinking, thinking about how changes we make now are going to have an impact," he said. "How are things in the legislature that are being changed now, how will that affect things in five years? Jack always stayed proactive, always thinking about what potential we have to grow the organization."

Fisher grew up on a farm in Crawford County, Ohio. He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Ohio State University and Ball State University in Indiana. He served in the Air Force.

Previous positions included deputy and assistant director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture and director of the Illinois Corn Growers Assoc. and Marketing Board. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees at OSU.

Fisher plans to retire in mid-July 2016 and, after a period of transition, to stay involved with agriculture in some capacity.