In a few short weeks, we will not only ring in a new year but dive into a new General Assembly Session. The results of the 2019 elections place new leadership in both chambers which means a new Speaker of the House, new Majority and Minority Leaders in both bodies, as well as all-new committee chairman in both chambers of the legislature.

With this new era in Virginia’s General Assembly and a more urban profile of the leadership, it becomes even more important to communicate our message on how policy impacts the industries of agriculture and forestry. Our members and staff have always worked to educate policymakers in all positions, we will continue to work to represent Farm Bureau policy in the most effective way possible.

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Southside Virginia tobacco barns have been disappearing, but a group is working to reverse that trend.

Preservation Virginia, a privately funded statewide organization founded more than 100 years ago, has been working since 2009 to preserve historic tobacco barns and educate the public about their significance to Southside history.

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After more than a year of negotiations, a revised version of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement is awaiting congressional ratification.

“We urge members of Congress to swiftly approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said after the revised version of the agreement was signed Dec. 10. “Agriculture is at a critical crossroads with the downturn in commodity prices, losses from natural disasters and the trade war. This is an opportunity for Congress not only to help U.S. farmers and ranchers turn the corner on trade, but also show that Washington can still get things done on a bipartisan basis.”

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The fog of regulatory ambiguity is fading with the rollout of official guidelines for industrial hemp growers in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has outlined provisions to approve domestic hemp production, and sets requirements for its producers. Those requirements include licensing, maintaining information on the land where hemp is grown, complying with procedures and provisions, testing updated THC amounts, and handling policy violations.

The 2018 U.S. Farm Bill directed the USDA to establish a national regulatory framework for domestic hemp production. The commodity is used in fabric, paper, construction materials, food products, cosmetics and the production of cannabidiol or CBD. Prices for hemp, driven primarily by demand for use in CBD production, have motivated increased planting. Industrial hemp is already produced in Virginia, with 1,142 registered growers and 2,244 acres planted, according to Tony Banks, senior assistant director of agriculture, development and innovation for Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

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Before Virginia farmer Charles Hood bought 30 acres of land close to where he grew peanuts, corn, cotton and soybeans, he brought a retired Natural Resources Conservation Service soil scientist out to walk the property. With a thumbs-up from the soil scientist, Hood bought the property and consulted with NRCS to make sure the changes he was planning to make to the land, which had previously been harvested for timber and had ditches on three sides, were okay.

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Essex County cattle and grain producer J. Barry Bates of Tappahannock was elected Dec. 4 to a three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held at the 2019 VFBF Annual Meeting in Norfolk.

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Cumberland County cattle, forage and forestry producer William F. “Bill” Osl Jr. of Columbia was elected Dec. 4 to a third three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held at the VFBF 2019 Annual Meeting in Norfolk.

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Shenandoah County cattle and grain and forage producer Peter A. Truban of Woodstock was elected Dec. 4 to a fourth three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held at the VFBF 2019 Annual Meeting in Norfolk.

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Montgomery County cattle and hay producer Bruce N. Stanger of Christiansburg was elected Dec. 4 to a second three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held at the VFBF 2019 Annual Meeting in Norfolk.

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