The Bedford County Young Farmers held a legislative farm tour on May 13th. Below are two perspectives from Farm Bureau staff: Mark Campbell, Sr. Field Services Director, and Arielle Brown, Legislative Specialist. 

Mark Campbell: Bedford County Farm Bureau and the Young Farmers hosted a “Meet Virginia Agriculture” event on May 13th.  The event was originally initiated by an idea from Delegate Scott Garrett for legislators to learn first-hand about farms and the business of farming along with challenges and opportunities.

Meet Virginia Agriculture was held in the Huddleston area.  Legislators and their aides that attended were Delegate Scott Garrett, Delegate Kathy Byron and aide, Senator Suetterlein, Senator Bryce Reeves and Aide, and two county board of supervisors’ members.  Everyone car pooled to the farms which allowed for good discussion between farms, which included Gardner Heifers; Tuner Dairy; and the farm of Beth Bays and family, young farmer member.

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Robert Mills, VFBF Board Member and member of Pittsylvania County Farm Bureau was elected President of the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services on Thursday. Shelley Barlow of Nansemond County Farm Bureau was elected Vice President.

Mills owns and operates Briar View Farms, which includes a pullet breeder operation that raises 34,000 birds annually for Perdue Farms, and he has 300 brood cows. He also grows 90 acres of flue-cured and dark-fired tobacco.

Barlow and her husband, Joe, work and live on her family’s farm Cotton Plains Farm in Chuckatuck. The Barlows’ main crop is cotton, although they also grow wheat, soybeans and hay. She is also active in the Virginia Farm Bureau Women’s Program and the Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom Program.

The formation of the first Board of Agriculture was authorized by the Virginia General Assembly on March 5, 1888. Today’s Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services consists of citizens and practicing farmers from each Virginia congressional district and two pesticide-industry professionals. Board members are appointed by the Governor for a four-year term. The presidents of Virginia State University and Virginia Tech are ex officio members of the board.

From American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall:

This week, President Trump sent to Congress a proposal to slash the USDA budget by more than $228 billion over 10 years, including $38 billion from farm programs. This proposal would fail agriculture and rural America, and for that reason the American Farm Bureau cannot support it.

Farm Bureau members are concerned about the federal budget deficit. We believe agriculture should do its fair share to get us back to fiscal discipline and a balanced budget. But we’ve already done more than our fair share.

When Congress passed the 2014 farm bill, it was estimated to cut the deficit by $23 billion over 10 years. Agriculture was the only sector that voluntarily offered savings during the 113^th Congress, when the 2014 farm bill was passed. Before that, Congress passed budget reconciliation bills that targeted agriculture for savings. In fact, it is difficult to think of another sector that has done as much as agriculture to address the national deficit.
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All Americans—farmers, the public, state and local officials, environmentalists—should be able to count on a regulatory system that is fair and transparent. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed a regulatory reform bill.  Now the Senate needs to act.

Farm Bureau is working to prevent implementation of the current Waters of the U.S. rule and other excessive expansion of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, reform the Endangered Species Act, preserve farmers’ and ranchers’ land-use and water rights, and reform the federal regulatory process.  Learn more here.

We need a regulatory process that is based on facts, respects the legislative intent of Congress and observes the separation of powers in the Constitution.

Tell your Senators that reform is needed now! Click on the link to take action: http://www.fb.org/advocacy/regulation-reform-now/

Members of more than 40 county Farm Bureaus in Virginia have donated nearly $44,000 to assist fellow farmers affected by destructive wildfires in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. The recent fires swept through an estimated 1.5 million acres, killed seven people and destroyed homes, cattle and livelihoods.

Beth Bays, secretary of the Bedford County Farm Bureau Young Farmers Committee, helped spearhead that county’s relief efforts.
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Governor Terry McAuliffe will lead a three-day trade and marketing mission to Mexico from May 1-4, 2017.  The Governor will be accompanied by Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Basil Gooden, and representatives from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The delegation will visit Guadalajara and Mexico City.

The Governor and his delegation will participate in more than 10 meetings over the course of the mission. The Governor will meet with senior business executives and government officials, including Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray Caso, to promote Virginia as a business location and tourism destination. The delegation will also encourage trade opportunities for Virginia agricultural and forestry products including: pork, wheat, apples, poultry, lumber, wine, tobacco, and specialty food and beverage products.

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From the Richmond-Times Dispatch

By Matt Nuckols of Eastview Farm, Hanover County Farm Bureau member:

As a dairy farmer, I provide my neighbors, friends and family with milk; it is my livelihood, and I work hard to do it right. Dairy farmers must follow stringent regulations to ensure we deliver a high-quality, consistent and safe product with nine essential nutrients. If I don’t follow sanitation and hygiene rules, my dairy operation could be hit with a fine, or even shut down.

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Editor’s note: This week, several articles appeared in newspapers across the state blaming farmers for allowing tons of poultry waste and liquid manure into the Shenandoah River. Below is a response from cattle and grains farmer Nathaniel Dirting of Shenandoah County:

A lot of things come to mind when I think of challenges on the farm. I think about fighting the weather – constantly worrying if the crops will have enough rain water – worrying about the possibility of hail or severe winds – worrying if a late frost could kill the early corn we were so fortunate to get planted. I think about fighting diseases in our crops and sickness in our cattle. I think about fighting the markets as prices for our commodities constantly change due to circumstances beyond my control.

But one very real fight I have come to realize is one I never thought I would have to put up – having to fight negative public perception.

I read an article earlier today in the Washington Post (and also published in the Northern Virginia Daily) titled “Nearly 200 million chickens, turkeys and cows are making a mess of the Shenandoah River”.

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During a meeting with farmers and ranchers, President Donald Trump pledged today that his administration, including newly installed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, would work to address critical challenges faced by agriculture, according to American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall.

Duvall was among 14 farmers and ranchers from across the country who met at the White House today with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Perdue for a roundtable discussion. The meeting, held on the day Perdue was sworn into office, included a discussion on pressing issues for American agriculture, such as trade, labor, regulatory reform and rural infrastructure.

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From AgWeb:

President Donald Trump has signed more than 30 executive orders during his first 100 days, and he hasn’t forgotten to get the agriculture industry and rural America involved. Earlier Tuesday, Trump signed the executive order, titled Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America, in front of newly installed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, a 14-member farmer roundtable and others.

“Today, America’s farmers feed not only our nation, but millions of people around the world,” Trump said, reading from the order, before making an aside about trade.

“We’re going to open that up much more for you folks,” he added. “As you know, it’s not totally open, to put it mildly. We learned that yesterday, frankly, with Canada, with dairy farmers up in Wisconsin, upstate New York, different places. A lot of border states in particular are not able to sell their dairy products into Canada, and this has been going on for a while, and we’re not going to put up with it.”

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