My parents stressed the importance of maintaining a strong faith early and I am the man I am today thanks in large part to that faith and my passion for the agricultural industry. Like many, I fell in love with livestock at an early age through my show ring experiences. That love propelled me to an education that provided me the opportunity to learn about the breadth of the agricultural industry. While most multi-generation livestock farmers would dive into Animal Science, a degree outside my swine industry comfort zone positioned me for an exciting future. As a result, in May of 2021, I graduated from tOSU with a bachelor’s of science in Agriculture, majoring in Agricultural Systems Management and minoring in Agribusiness. One of the best experiences I had in college is being a member of the 2020 OSU Livestock Judging Team. While not being exposed to livestock judging prior to Ohio State brought its challenges, I participated in the livestock evaluation course and that’s when I realized how much the judging program had to offer. The experiences I gained, friendships made, and life skills developed from livestock judging unquestionably positively impacted my future. I hope to provide youth with the types of opportunities that have been so important to me in enhancing my character qualities. While in recent times things have been different, agriculturalists are some of the most resilient people on this planet and with God’s word, like in Jeremiah 29:11, I can only be excited for how I can positively influence the future of our industry. Upon graduation from tOSU, I attended the Reppert School of Auctioneering, and am actively a licensed auctioneer in the state of Ohio; owning Phipps & Co LLC, and also an active Real Estate sales agent based out of central Ohio with Auction Ohio. You can contact me directly at grant@phippscollc.com or grantphipps@auctionohio.com