Farm Bureau leaders give back, educate and promote Community activists come from all walks of life, and many Virginia Farm Bureau members lead the charge. Some promote agricultural conservation by serving on local soil and water conservation boards, while others support agricultural products by assisting commodity promotion boards. Certain Farm Bureau leaders are appointed to local governing boards where they can connect
Smyth County farmer bridges gap between farmers and community BY ALICE KEMP
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n the far reaches of Southwest Virginia, Smyth County cattle farmer Charlie Atkins stays active in his community. As a chair of the (Smyth County) Board of Supervisors, he acts as a liaison between farmers and county residents, keeping them informed about current agricultural issues. “What I learn through the Smyth County board of supervisors helps me get back to the Farm Bureau and the farming community,” he said. “I can keep them a little more up-to-date on legislative issues or grants, so we know if we need to put something together to get it to Richmond, or maybe make calls to our congressmen.” With his finger on the pulse of the community, he’s talked with legislators about the lack of broadband in the area—something that heavily impacts rural farming families. He also works to ensure policies like the county’s land use assessment taxation ordinance remain in place so farmers pay real estate taxes based on farm properties’ actual use. “I’m always having to educate and keep (county) board members attuned to what land use really means to the individual farmer out there,” Atkins explained. “Some people feel land use favors a few individuals, and it doesn’t benefit the county as a whole. We’re basically an agricultural county so we need the land use.” 14
VIRGINIA FARM BUREAU NEWS
decision-makers with information about issues that impact farming. And other leaders strive to bring the next generation into farming’s fold by working in agricultural education. What unites them is an unselfish desire to participate in community roles for the betterment of Virginia agriculture. Read about four VFB leaders who are doing just that.
Working to improve Virginia’s beef cattle industry is another of Atkins’ agricultural focuses. Serving on the Virginia Beef Cattle Improvement Association board, he helps oversee bull testing programs. Bulls are graded on factors like their ability to gain weight and expected prodigy difference—predictions of their ability to pass various traits onto offspring. The highest-performing bulls are sold, improving the genetics of what goes back into the farm.
Grayson County supervisor promotes regional ag activities BY NICOLE ZEMA
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rayson County supervisor Brenda Sutherland has a heart of service that beats for Southwest Virginia agriculture. Sutherland’s childhood on the farm, and a long career in education and administration, led to highly visible, influential regional leadership roles. She taught, coached and worked in personnel for a neighboring school system for decades. “Nothing I have ever done has been about me; it’s about my students,” Sutherland said. “I retired in 2010 and tried it for a month, but I couldn’t do it.” She took a part-time gig at Grayson County Farm Bureau, and earned her insurance license. Four years later, Sutherland was encouraged to run for a one-year term on the Grayson County Board of Supervisors. “I won, and I guess the rest is history,”
she said. “Maybe I felt the need to give back to my community. I was a bedroom resident of Grayson, and traveled out of the county to work for 32 years. I thought, this is one way to give back.” Sutherland represents the board on Grayson County’s Agricultural Advisory Committee, formed in 2018 to develop inclusive strategies to enhance agriculture and forestry enterprises and related industries, with a focus on agricultural education, communications, economic development and wildlife. “I think that’s a pretty powerful mission,” she said. In 2020, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation President Wayne F. Pryor tapped Sutherland as a trustee of VFBF AgPAC, the organization’s legislative action committee. Sutherland also chairs the Virginia Association of Counties Economic Development and Planning Board. And she currently serves as executive director of the Crossroads Rural Entrepreneurial Institute, an educational initiative intended to revitalize the regional economy. She helps manage a beef cattle and cow-calf operation with her husband, Richard, who serves on the VFBF board. They are members of CarrollGrayson Cattle Producers Association, and Brenda Sutherland represents the group on the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association Policy Committee. “I help him feed (cows) every day,” Sutherland said, and joked, “but I’m really a glorified gate opener.”
