Virginia Farm Bureau’s strength has always been rooted in our membership. Our members live in every corner of the Commonwealth, raise an unbelievable variety of crops and commodities, and carry diverse views that all come together through our grassroots structure to serve as a united representative of the Virginia agriculture industry.

This week, we were proud to have four of our members travel to the White House to represent our membership, our industry, and rural Virginia at an event focused on an issue that impacts all of us: burdensome regulation.

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The 2020 Virginia Ag Expo has been canceled to ensure the health and safety of exhibitors and guests as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The American Farm Bureau is asking Senate lawmakers to make several changes to the Paycheck Protection Program to make it more workable for farmers and ranchers.

“While the PPP is providing vital assistance to farmers and ranchers who were able to receive loans, more funding is needed to support those shut out of the program and significant changes are necessary for agricultural producers to fully participate in the PPP,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in letter to Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Chair Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

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While DMV Customer Service Centers are reopening, the staggered openings and services by appointment only have implications for pesticide applicators and their ability to take the certification exam(s).  To address the issue, the Administration has again extended the expiration date for all Notices of Authorization to tests issued on or after December 20, 2019.  All authorization letters for prospective applicators to take the exam(s) to become certified issued on or after December 20, 2019, will now expire on October 31, 2020, or the current date of expiration, whichever is greater. Prospective applicators that do not take the exam(s) by October 31, 2020, or the current date of expiration, whichever is greater, will be required to submit a new application with appropriate fees to take the exam(s).

The most current information related to applicator certification can be found here: https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pesticide-applicator-certification.shtml.

Check out this week’s Merchandiser Minute!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released an initial list of additional commodities that have been added to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) and announced other adjustments to the program based on comments received from agricultural producers and organizations and review of market data.

Producers will be able to submit applications that include the new commodities on Monday, July 13, 2020. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting applications for CFAP through Aug. 28, 2020. USDA expects additional eligible commodities to be announced in the coming weeks. Continue reading →

County Farm Bureau Women’s Committees across Virginia are banding together to help the hungry in their communities with a classic lunchtime staple—peanut butter and jelly.

Sponsored by Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Women’s Leadership Committee, participating county Farm Bureau women’s committees are collecting peanut butter, jelly and other non-perishable food items to help support regional food banks, local food pantries and Virginia families.

The idea for the statewide effort started when Faye Hundley, chairman of VFBF Women’s Leadership Committee, heard about the spike in people seeking food assistance and wanted to help. She reached out to the women’s committees and began organizing the effort.

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The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) goes into effect July 1, at a crucial time for farmers struggling to recover from COVID-19 losses and a depressed agricultural economy. The expected $2 billion annual increase in U.S. agricultural exports and overall increase of $65 billion in gross domestic product will provide a welcome boost.

USDA estimates COVID-19 contributed to a $50 billion decline in commodity value alone for 2019, 2020 and 2021 production totals. This does not include all of agriculture’s losses, which would be billions more.

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