Andrew Smith, Associate Director, Governmental Relations

We are right in the heart of harvest season for corn and soybeans, this will continue for a couple more months. I thought it a good time to remind folks of the resources we have online about farm vehicle and farm equipment. Anyone can access the information in our Resource Center (click here).

We have the entire wording of laws relating to the registered farm vehicle tag (F-tag), Unlicensed Farm Vehicle (Farm Use), Size and Weight Manual, and several others, including links to helpful websites such as the Department of Motor Vehicles site for Farm Vehicles, and the Federal Motor Carriers information on hauling ag products.

The latest addition to the resources we have produced and made available is a “visor card” for the Registered Farm Vehicles (F-tag) and Farm Use. You can print it at home and easily carry it over your visor. We created it in a question and answer format with code references for each answer.

Farmers enjoy several exemptions and allowances on a variety of areas of hauling agricultural products, but it’s important to have a good understanding of what they are and how they apply.

One of the best allowances we have is when you have your truck registered with the Farm vehicle(f-tag) from the DMV. When you have this plate, you get an extra 5% allowance of weight, it’s one of the benefits of putting a registered farm plate on your vehicles.

Lastly, since farmers are hauling a variety of products from the field this time of year, I encourage them to consider buying the Virginia Grown Overweight permit. This permit is a real bargain for producers in case they are overweight. One of the allowances is it allows a five-axle vehicle with a minimum of 42 feet of axle space between extreme axles to carry up to 90,000 pounds gross weight. However, you still must follow bridge limitations. This is cheap assurance incase extra moisture pushes your grain load higher than normal.

Find all of the information and more at the Virginia Farm Bureau resource center.