Have you been keeping up with the VALOR Program? The Virginia Agricultural Leaders Obtaining Results Program has already graduated two classes. The program started with the Inaugural Class in 2012 the program has expanded the world for two great classes of cohorts that not only traveled the Commonwealth learning about our industry, but traveled to various regions of the United States as well as Argentina (Class I) and Vietnam (Class II). The program is two years in length with the class meeting approximately every other month. Class III started their journey in September of this year.  You can follow along with their program on their blog here.

The current class members are:

Class III Fellows

 Kristin Beery of Mt. Sidney, Agricultural Education Instructor, Augusta County Public Schools

Kimley Blanks of South Boston, Agriculture Marketing Director, County of Halifax

William Hatcher of Amelia Courthouse, Virginia Department of Corrections, Quality Assurance, State Farm Agribusiness

Frank Johnson III of Warsaw, Chief Leadership Officer, Hope for Family & Business Prosperity

Greta Liskey, of Harrisonburg, Owner, Liskey Custom Work

Paula Martin of Mount Crawford, AVP/Ag Credit Analyst, First Bank and Trust Company

Christopher Mullins of South Chesterfield, Assistant Professor, Extension Specialist, VSU

Michelle Olgers of Sutherland, Director of Marketing and Communication, VSU

Jennifer Shaver of Abingdon, Attorney, Shaver Law Office

Michael Smetak of New Market, Regional Director, Shenandoah Growers

Linsday Smith of Washington DC,  Coordinator, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, USDA Food LINC

Nathan Walsh of Purcellville, Owner/Winemaker-Vineyard Manager, Walsh Winegrowing  LLC/Sunset Hills Vineyard

Elizabeth “E.B.” Watson  of Bedford, Assistant Farm Manager/District Manager-Conservation Specialist, Dawn Dairy/Peaks of Otter SWCD

Grant Coffee, former Virginia Farm Bureau Young Farmer chair and a tobacco and small grains farmer in Lunenburg County, has been appointed to the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee.

While serving on the committee, Coffee will help plan the YF&R competitive events at the AFBF Annual Convention, identify programs and potential speakers for the AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference and take part in numerous committee meetings.

“Farm Bureau volunteer leaders, such as those selected to serve on national committees, are the backbone of our organization,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “As advocates for today’s agriculture, they play an important role in building a greater understanding between farmers and consumers.”

Congratulations, Grant!

Identifying veterinary shortage areas is a central component of the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP), which helps place veterinarians where they are needed. Farm Bureau members can play a key role by helping their state officials nominate these areas.

Dr. Charles Broaddus, state veterinarian, will submit nominations for shortage designation. Officials may need help in identifying Virginia’s geographical areas that have a shortage of veterinarians or areas of veterinary practice that have a shortage, such as food animal medicine, public health, epidemiology, pathology and food safety. If you are aware of a shortage that ought to be considered, please contact Dr. Broaddus.

Name: Dr. Charles Broaddus

Title: State Veterinarian Agency: Division of Animal and Food Industry Services

Department: Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1163 Richmond, VA 23218

Office Address: Oliver W. Hill Building, Room 165 102 Governor Street Richmond, VA 23219

Office Telephone No: (804) 692-0601 Fax No: (804) 371-2380

E-mail: charles.broaddus@vdacs.virginia.gov

Information about the process can be found on the USDA’s website.

Governor Terry McAuliffe announced today the award of three planning grants from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund. The Commonwealth awarded a total of $64,000 to projects by Floyd County and the New River Valley Regional Commission to support the growth of agricultural and forestry industries in the Commonwealth. The AFID planning grant program encourages local governments to promote agriculture and forestry and incorporate the needs of these industries into their overall economic development strategies.

“Continuing to support Virginia’s diverse agricultural and forestry sectors is a key part of my plan to build the new Virginia Economy,” said Governor McAuliffe.  “Local and regional efforts to study and support these industries in Virginia, like those being undertaken by Floyd County and the New River Valley Regional Commission, should be recognized as vital parts of Virginia’s larger economic development efforts. We will continue to identify and support initiatives that strengthen agriculture and forestry for localities and regions, which will ultimately bolster one of the largest industries central to the overall success of our economy.”

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Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers in Montgomery and Pulaski counties recently raised $4,500 to purchase milk for a local outreach center.

The group raised enough to provide the All About Jesus Outreach and Help Center with 30 gallons of milk per week for an entire year.

“Milk is healthy and full of protein, calcium and essential nutrients, and we decided as an agriculture group to raise money to donate milk so families can have fresh milk in their refrigerators,” explained Casey Phillips, a Montgomery dairy farmer. He and his wife, Stacey Phillips, are VFBF Young Farmers Committee district co-chairmen.

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On Wednesday, President-Elect Donald Trump announced Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma as head to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Below is a statement from American Farm Bureau Federation Zippy Duvall about this announcement:

“President-elect Trump’s selection of Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency is welcome news to America’s farmers and ranchers—in fact, to all who are threatened by EPA’s regulatory overreach—and should help provide a new degree of fairness for U.S. agriculture. We know that in his position as attorney general in Oklahoma, Pruitt has stood up for common-sense, effective regulation that protects the environment and the rights of the regulated community. We have been grateful for his effective legal work in response to EPA’s overreaching Waters of the U.S. Rule.”

“We anticipate that as EPA administrator, Pruitt will listen to our concerns and those of others who work with the nation’s natural resources on a daily basis. Agriculture is a profession based on a solid ethic of conservation. It helps guide everything we do, and we expect that Pruitt will understand that in regulatory matters dealing with agriculture and the environment.”

 

If you missed the Ears Wide Open Consumer Panel this week at the Virginia Farm Bureau Annual Convention, you can view it in its entirety below. Big thanks to Jesse Martin and Lauren Arbogast from Rockingham County Farm Bureau for moderating, our panelists, and the Farm Bureau Growing Leaders Committee for sponsoring!

Over the past two years hundreds of Virginia farmers have taken proactive steps to protect water quality on their land. Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Basil Gooden applauded their efforts Nov. 29 at the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s 2016 Annual Convention in Hot Springs.

Gooden specifically lauded participants in Virginia’s Resource Management Plan program.

“Resource Management Plans are designed to advance water quality improvement and offer regulatory assurance to farmers,” Gooden said. “The RMP program was backed by both conservation and farm groups. And as you know, the Farm Bureau was one of its strongest advocates. I’m pleased that, in two years, we have over 320 plans in place.”

The original goal for 2015 was 40 plans. Two hundred seventy-eight plans covering 48,500 acres of farmland were registered in the first year, according to a report by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

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America’s farmers, like the nation itself, face a time of impending changes. The president of the American Farm Bureau Federation told Virginia farmers the best way to approach those changes is as a unified front.

Vincent “Zippy” Duvall spoke to several hundred farmers and other agriculture and forestry professionals Nov. 29 at the opening lunch of Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s 2016 Annual Convention. Duvall was elected in January and is the AFBF’s 12th president. The poultry, cattle and hay producer and former dairyman from Greene County, Ga., served as president of the Georgia Farm Bureau for nine years.

“It’s a changing time for us and a changing time for our national government,” Duvall said. After the Nov. 8 election he noted that the important issues American farmers face “are not red or blue, but they are critical to the prosperity of rural America and our ability to protect our nation’s food supply. … Now it’s time for our newly elected leaders to turn up for rural America and keep their campaign promises by addressing the issues that matter to the people who sent them to Washington.”

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Governor Terry McAuliffe announced today the opening of the Southeast Asia representative office of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), expanding the agency’s global network of international trade representatives stationed around the world. The new office will be led by Sarath Menon, managing director of the business-consulting firm Orissa International. Headquartered in , the VDACS representative employs staff from countries across Southeast Asia, consolidating important markets including Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Governor McAuliffe made the announcement during a 10-day trade and marketing mission to Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia.

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