Essex County cattle and grain producer J. Barry Bates of Tappahannock was elected Dec. 4 to a three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held at the 2019 VFBF Annual Meeting in Norfolk.

As a board member, Bates will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland counties.

He has been a Farm Bureau member for 20 years and serves on the VFBF Livestock Advisory Committee. He also is a past Essex County Farm Bureau president and current member of that organization’s board. Additionally, he serves on the Essex County Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Committee and Essex County Airport Authority and is an adult leader for the Essex County 4-H Livestock Club.

Bates and his family reside on Mount View Farm, where they raise black Angus beef cattle and grow hay for their herd. In addition to farming, he is a former commercial helicopter pilot.

He and his wife, Suzanne, are members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. They have two children.

Bates succeeds VFBF board member W. Ellis Walton of Middlesex County, who served three terms.