Beef producer Thomas E. Graves of Orange was elected Dec. 5 to a fifth three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held during the VFBF 2020 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates.

As a board member, Graves will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Madison, Orange, Prince William, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties.

He is chairman of the VFBF Legislative Advisory Committee and vice chairman of the VFBF Forestry Advisory Committee. He also is a member of the VFBF Budget and Audit Committee and the VFBF board of directors Governance Committee. He is a charter director of the State Fair of Virginia Youth Development Board and serves on the oversight committee for The Meadow Event Park.

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Southampton County cotton and peanut producer Marvin L. Everett Jr. of Capron was elected Dec. 5 to a sixth three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held during the VFBF 2020 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates.

As a board member, Everett will represent Farm Bureau producer members in the counties of Charles City, Dinwiddie, Greensville, James City, New Kent, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, Sussex and York.

He chairs the VFBF Peanut Advisory and Cotton Advisory committees. He also is president of the State Fair of Virginia Youth Development Board and serves on the oversight committee for The Meadow Event Park.

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Pittsylvania County beef, poultry and tobacco producer Robert J. Mills Jr. of Callands was elected Dec. 5 to a fourth three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held during the VFBF 2020 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates.

As a board member, Mills will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Campbell, Halifax and Pittsylvania counties.

He serves as chairman of the VFBF Poultry Advisory Committee and vice chairman of the VFBF Flue-Cured Tobacco Advisory Committee and is a member of the VFBF Livestock Advisory Committee.

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Tazewell County cattle producer Emily Fisher Edmondson of Chilhowie was elected Dec. 5 to a fifth three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held during the VFBF 2020 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates.

As a board member, Edmondson will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell and Wise counties.

She is chairman of the VFBF Livestock Advisory Committee and is a member of the Membership Services Advisory Committee.

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Jeannie L. Dudding of Craig County was elected Dec. 5 to a three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held during the VFBF 2020 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates.

As a board member, Dudding will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Alleghany, Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Franklin, Henry, Patrick and Roanoke counties.

Dudding serves as the Virginia Cooperative Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Giles County. She previously was an agriculture teacher at Giles High School in Pearisburg and an agriscience teacher at North Fork Middle School in Quicksburg.

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Check out this week’s Merchandiser Minute.

On this week’s Friend of the Farm Chat, we visit with Sen. Chap Petersen, chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. His appreciation for agriculture started young with visits to his mother’s family’s farm in Middlesex County.

Are you ready for 2021? Nah, I’m not piling on the anti-2020 wagon, but oh, what a year it’s been! I am, however, hoping to make sure everyone gets ready for Virginia’s law about handheld devices going into effect January 1, 2021. Most laws go into effect on July 1 of that year, but with the “hands-free” law, there was a delayed enactment. So, make sure you are prepared because, after the ball drops ringing in the New Year, don’t pick up that phone while driving.

It’s been against the law for several years to use a handheld device while driving a commercial vehicle as mandated by Federal law. Still, for all other motor vehicles, it starts in just a few weeks here in Virginia.

With the advancement of technology, most new cars come equipped with hands-free systems to connect your cell phone, which is very convenient. But for some, we need to figure out what to do. The far safest thing to do is wait until you get to your destination to take or make a call or send a text. But for those calls you need to take while driving, seek out a way to connect hands-free to avoid a ticket.

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Carroll County Farm Bureau and King William County Farm Bureau were honored by the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation for projects completed in their communities in 2020.

Carroll County Farm Bureau, whose president is Bennie Quesenberry, received a first-place VFBF County Award of Excellence.

The county Farm Bureau organized a call-to-action campaign with members and other local citizens to save Carroll County’s land use assessment program. By speaking at virtual public hearings, holding informative discussions with members of the Carroll County Board of Supervisors, working with a special committee, and launching a direct mail campaign, Farm Bureau members helped inform county supervisors about the importance of land use assessment to the farming community. As a result, the Carroll County land use assessment program remains intact and unchanged.

Second-place winner for the County Award of Excellence was King William County Farm Bureau, led by President Charles Piersa. County Farm Bureau leaders and the organization’s women’s committee raised $4,300 to donate to local families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. King William County Public Schools helped identify 36 families in need of assistance, and the county Farm Bureau gave those families gift certificates to six local restaurants that had been affected by pandemic-related dining restrictions. Each gift certificate provided $15 per family member.

Check out this week’s Merchandiser Minute.