News Release:

Convention will feature embassy visits, farm bill and trade discussions

Farm Bureau members from across Virginia will gather Nov. 25–28 at the Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles Hotel in Chantilly for the 2007 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention.

The convention is open to voting delegates and any other interested Farm Bureau members. This year’s theme is “Feeding the World: Agriculture Matters,” which is a variation on the theme of a public education campaign Farm Bureau launched last fall. The agenda includes educational conferences on the 2007 Farm Bill and misconceptions about the agriculture industry.

Delegates from each county Farm Bureau will discuss and vote on the organization’s state and federal policy for the coming year and elect members of the VFBF board of directors to represent Districts 3, 6, 9 and 12 and members of the Virginia AgPAC board of trustees to represent Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13.

Registration

Members can register to attend the convention at any Farm Bureau office or online through Nov. 5.

Special tours

Holding the annual convention so close to the nation’s capital has allowed Farm Bureau to offer two special side trips on the morning of Nov. 26. The following free tours are available:

• an interactive tour of Embassy Row, including stops at participants’ choice of the Canadian or Mexican embassies, where members can talk with diplomats about agriculture and trade issues; and

• a bus tour sponsored by the Loudoun County Farm Bureau with stops at Loudoun Heritage Farm Park and the Marion DuPont Equine Medical Center.

According to the Canadian Embassy, trade between the United States and Canada in agriculture and agri-food products has nearly doubled in the past decade.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Mexico became the United States’ second largest agricultural trading partner in 2006, accounting for about 10 percent of U.S. agricultural imports and 14 percent of exports. The United States remains Mexico’s principal agricultural trading partner. More than 80 percent of Mexico’s agricultural exports go to the United States, and more than two-thirds of its agricultural imports come from the United States.

Opening-day conferences

Members also may attend either of two afternoon conferences on Nov. 25.

In “Why Not the Farm Bill?” representatives from the Australia/New Zealand Embassy and the European Union will discuss the 2007 Farm Bill.

“Addressing Misconceptions about Agriculture” will set the record straight on 35 misconstrued ag topics. It will feature Betty Wolanyk, AFBF director of education and research, who developed a kit that targets key issues and clears up misconceptions with sound, science-based information. Attendees will learn how to deliver complex information in a format that everyone can understand.