The president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation said he’s proud of the accomplishments of farmers and his organization during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that much more needs to be done to give farmers and rural Virginians access to high-speed internet service.

“Just like farms needed electricity and phone service a century ago, rural Virginia will not fully thrive without broadband internet,” Wayne F. Pryor told farmers from across the state on Dec. 5 during the VFBF 2020 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates. “The nation’s modern economy is totally dependent on this essential service, and anyone offline is missing connections to buyers, suppliers, news, educational resources and vital medical services.”

Millions of dollars in federal grants have boosted efforts to expand broadband internet into rural Virginia in 2020, and farmers are grateful for that, Pryor said.

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Goochland County hay and grain producer Wayne F. Pryor of Hadensville was elected Dec. 5 to an eighth two-year term as president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

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

Pryor served as Farm Bureau’s vice president from December 1998 through November 2006 and has been a member of the organization’s board of directors since 1988.

He currently serves on the board of the American Farm Bureau Federation and as president and chairman of the Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co. board of directors. Pryor has served on the Jackson, Mississippi-based company’s board for 22 years.

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Franklin County farmer Scott E. Sink of Blacksburg was elected Dec. 5 to a fifth two-year term as vice president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

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

Sink chairs the VFBF National Affairs Committee, is a member of the VFBF AgPAC board of trustees and serves on the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture, Innovation and Rural Sustainability board of directors.

He is a past chairman of the VFBF Young Farmers Committee and past board member of the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.

Additionally, he is a past president of Franklin County Farm Bureau.

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A. Faye Hundley of Champlain in Essex County was elected Dec. 5 to a third two-year term as chairman of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Women’s Leadership Committee.

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

The VFBF Women’s Program, for which the Women’s Leadership Committee serves as a steering body, provides leadership and service opportunities for farm women and sponsors events that help educate the public about agriculture. The Women’s Leadership Committee chairman also serves on the VFBF board of directors.

Hundley previously served as vice chairman of the VFBF Women’s Committee. She has served 13 years as chairman of the Essex County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee.

She has been an Essex Farm Bureau member for 30 years and serves on that organization’s board as secretary. Additionally, she serves on the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom board of directors and is a past member of the VFBF Legislative Committee.

Hundley is a 2016 graduate of the American Farm Bureau Federation Women’s Communication Boot Camp and a member of the AFBF Grassroots Outreach Team.

She and her husband, Jay, are third-generation grain farmers. She attends Upper Essex Baptist Church, where she serves as deacon and financial secretary and on other committees. She also is a coach and volunteer for Area 28 of Special Olympics Virginia.

Lunenburg County farmer and Virginia Cooperative Extension agent Lindy Tucker Fimon of Warfield was elected Dec. 5 to a two-year term as chairman of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers Committee.

Elections of officers and directors were held during the VFBF 2020 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates. The VFBF Young Farmers Committee chairman also serves on the organization’s board of directors.

Fimon, a Kenbridge native, has worked for Virginia Cooperative Extension as an agriculture and natural resources agent since 2012. She also works on Rome Farm, her family’s cow-calf operation in Brunswick and Lunenburg counties, where they raise beef cattle and grow hay.

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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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