On Saturday, Bonnie Duvall, wife of American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall, lost her courageous battle with cancer. The following statement may be attributed to American Farm Bureau Vice President Scott VanderWal.

“It is with deep sadness that I share the news of Bonnie Duvall’s passing after a courageous battle with cancer. She was a special member of the Farm Bureau family, from being chosen for the 1982 National Young Farmer and Rancher Award with Zippy, to her travels with him 33 years later when he was elected president of American Farm Bureau.

“Zippy and Bonnie were partners in every respect for all of their 40 years together. She put her business degree to work keeping the books on their Georgia farm, enabling Zippy to turn his attention to serving his fellow farmers at the county, state and national levels.

“At moments like this our faith consoles us, knowing her soul is at peace, having gone on to our heavenly Father. We will forever be inspired by her sense of humor, love of farming and optimism in the face of adversity. She taught us all what it means to make every moment count.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Duvall family, including the four children Zippy and Bonnie have always been so proud of, Vince, Corrie, Zeb and Zellie, their dear son- and daughters-in-law, and their five beautiful grandchildren.”

Check out this week’s General Assembly Update with Andrew and Stefanie from Virginia Farm Bureau’s Governmental Relations Department.

Virginia Farm Bureau Federation representatives attended the formal release of the 2019 Annual Crop Production Summary Jan. 10 at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Every month the USDA issues national crop progress reports that directly influence market prices. The Virginia delegation was invited by the Virginia office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

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A series of financial planning workshops for the agricultural community are being held in January and February.

The sessions will cover a variety of farm business and financial topics such as taxes; business and law; and crop, health, life and property and casualty insurance.

The Paul D. Camp Community College Regional Workforce Development Center in Franklin is hosting the series, which was created in partnership with area experts and is sponsored by Farm Credit.

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Peanut butter and jelly will be used to help educate Virginia children about agriculture.

That’s because PB&J Hooray! by Janet Nolan was selected as the Virginia Agriculture in the Classroom 2020 Book of the Year. Volunteers will read it in classrooms across the state during the annual AITC Agriculture Literacy Week, March 9-13.

The book traces the paths of grapes, peanuts and wheat as they make their way from the field to a lunchtime favorite. Starting in the kitchen, the story works back through the shopping, delivering, producing, harvesting, farming and planting processes.

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President Donald J. Trump, for the third year in a row, will address farm and ranch families at the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 101^st Annual Convention. The address is scheduled for January 19 in Austin, Texas, at the Austin Convention Center.

“The American Farm Bureau is honored President Trump will return for a third consecutive year to speak with farmers and ranchers who work tirelessly to produce the quality food and fiber our country needs,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “We are grateful that he has made agricultural issues a priority and look forward to welcoming him to Austin at a time when there is much to talk about, from trade progress to important regulatory reforms.”

Other officials currently scheduled to attend are: Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

And we’re back with the Farm Bureau GR Team’s video updates of the 2020 General Assembly. Check out a recap of Week 1 with Stefanie and Andrew.

This week, both Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Tim Kaine showed support for the U.S. Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Estimates indicate the United States will gain more than $2 billion in additional farm exports and $65 billion in gross domestic product once the agreement is in place

Earlier this week, Sen. Warner and the Senate Finance Committee passed USMCA moving the agreement one step closer to a full Senate vote and ratification.

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As the U.S. Department of Agriculture finalized hemp production regulations, Virginia growers were being cautioned about an increasingly saturated market.

The public has until Jan. 29 to comment on interim final regulations, including licensing, maintaining information on land where hemp is grown, complying with procedures and provisions, testing THC contents and handling policy violations. Although many of the regulations remained unclear through the first full year of legal hemp growth in 2019, registered hemp acreage boomed from 78,176 acres in 2018 to 511,442 acres in 2019. With a market expected to surpass $10 billion by 2025 and regulations being put in place by the USDA, that trend is expected to continue.

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More than 99% of food samples tested in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program had pesticide residue levels well below the acceptable levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, data from the USDA’s 2018 PDP summary released at the end of 2019 revealed 47.8% of samples tested had no detectable pesticide residue at all.

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