6 minute read
Save the Date
The 24th Annual Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom Golf Tournament is planned for May 3 at The Dominion Club in Henrico County.
The event benefits AITC, and sponsors and teams of four can register to play. There will be a brief awards presentation following the tournament.
For more information and to register, visit AgInTheClass.org.
Virginia Farm Festival to be held in May
The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County is planning to debut the Virginia Farm Festival May 1 and 2. The event will be filled with family-friendly agricultural activities, music, crops and farm animals to celebrate Virginia agriculture. For more information, visit MeadowEventPark.com. The event will operate with COVID-19 guidelines in place.
Women’s Leadership Conference moved to August
The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Women’s Leadership Conference will be held Aug. 27-29 at the Hilton Richmond Hotel & Spa in Henrico County.
Lorenda Overman, the American Farm Bureau Federation Women’s Leadership Committee vice chair, and Bob Farmer, a writer and spokesman for the Farmers’ Almanac, will be the featured speakers.
The conference will include workshops on Medicare, mental health, a look ahead for the VFBF Women’s Program, an optional cream cheese-making class, and more!
For more information, contact Angela Haskovec at 804-290-1031 or angela.haskovec@vafb.com.
State Fair countdown
As of April 1, there are exactly 176 days until the 2021 State Fair of Virginia opening on Sept. 24. After being canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fair organizers are excited to welcome everyone back for their fair favorites.
Fair fact: The 2019 State Fair drew more than 3,800 entries in competitions for visual and culinary arts, horticulture and more.
If you’d like to participate in any of the fair competitions this fall, the time is ripe to start planning your awardwinning entry. You’ll find the fair’s 2021 competition guidelines available this summer at StateFairVa.org.
Annual Convention to be held in Williamsburg
The 2021 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention will take place Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 at The Williamsburg Lodge. The annual event will include speakers, policy discussion, award presentations and informative workshops.
Registration will open in early fall. The convention is open to county Farm Bureau delegates and other interested Farm Bureau members.
WATCH US
This month on Real Virginia:
Daffodils are springing up in Gloucester County
Featured this month on Real Virginia, Virginia Farm Bureau’s weekly television program:
• Daffodils have been blooming in Gloucester County for centuries.
• Farm veterinarians remain in short supply.
• “Safety first” is a mantra for those living in farm country.
• Warren County’s versatile agricultural enterprises are featured in this month’s
County Agriculture Close-up.
Real Virginia airs nationwide at 3:30 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month on RFD-TV on Dish Network and DirecTV, and on selected cable outlets around the state. It airs weekly on WBRA Roanoke, WHRO Norfolk, WVVA Bluefield and WTKR Norfolk, and on the first and third weekends of each month on WVIR Charlottesville and WRLH Richmond.
Watch Real Virginia anytime online at youtube.com/user/ VirginiaFarmBureau.
Ag leaders anticipate redistricting commission’s impact on rural Virginia
BY NICOLE ZEMA
A diverse group of eight Virginians will join eight legislators in serving on the state’s new redistricting commission. They will soon be tasked with redrawing the state’s political maps using new U.S. Census data.
A panel of retired judges chose 64 finalists from 1,200 applicants selected by General Assembly leaders. The judges then picked six men and two women of varied race, age, political affiliation and geographical location to fill the eight citizen seats on the 16-member commission.
The commission’s eight legislative seats also represent the state’s geographical makeup; those commission members were chosen by the General Assembly’s four political caucuses.
Del. Les Adams, R-Chatham, was one of the two House Republicans appointed to the commission. He represents Henry and Pittsylvania counties—rural areas of the southern Piedmont where his father and grandfather farmed.
As commission members work to redraw the maps, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board members are hopeful the commission’s decisions will give rural communities a cohesive voice.
Tazewell County cattle producer Emily F. Edmondson represents farmers in Southwest Virginia, where less residential density means less representation in the General Assembly.
“We have a relatively cohesive voice out here,” Edmondson said, “though it’s a small voice.”
She has noticed the rural population shift to more urban areas over time.
Tobacco, beef and poultry producer Robert J. Mills Jr. agreed. He serves Farm Bureau producer members in rural Campbell, Halifax and Pittsylvania counties on the VFBF board, and those farmers have expressed some apprehension about redistricting.
“The size of districts in the Southside and Southwest Virginia are just getting larger, because new districts are being created in Northern or Eastern Virginia,” he explained. “So I do hear concern that we’re losing more ground.”
It’s important that members of organizations like Farm Bureau and the Virginia Agribusiness Council have conversations with leadership in urban areas, Mills said.
“For me, as a farmer who loves rural Virginia, it’s really hard to digest bills that are sent down from Fairfax and Northern Virginia to regulate me and how I do business on the farm. Perhaps if some rural districts expand, they may pick up pieces of urban areas, resulting in more rural representation in Richmond,” Mills said.
Adams said he’s in their corner.
“The needs of our rural communities are always at the forefront of my service,” Adams said. “And will certainly be represented on the commission.”
Protect your property through Farm Bureau’s Reward Protection Service
BY ADAM CULLER
Large swaths of farmland and rural properties often are left unprotected, making farms and rural residences targets for arsonists, thieves and vandals.
To deter criminal activity from happening on their properties, Farm Bureau members in Virginia have access to free signs indicating their participation in Farm Bureau’s Reward Protection Service. The service offers a $2,500 reward for information that leads to a conviction of persons responsible for arson, theft or vandalism on a member’s property.
“The Reward Protection Service helps prevent crime and incentivizes crime reporting at no added cost so it’s a great benefit,” said Laurie Gannon, vice president of claims for Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.
Under the program’s guidelines, rewards are available only when signs are posted in prominent locations on a member’s property at the time of loss. Members who own multiple properties must display signs at each location.
If an act of arson, theft or vandalism occurs, an eyewitness can make a reward claim once the perpetrator has been arrested and convicted of a crime. Once the claim has been submitted, Virginia Farm Bureau will assign the claim to its Special Investigations Unit for further review.
The SIU will verify with law enforcement that the claimant’s information helped secure a conviction. The $2,500 reward will be paid once the information is verified and if no other claimants seek the reward.
To learn more about how to obtain a sign for your property, contact your local Farm Bureau office.
