News Release:

Farm Bureau president outlines priority issues for 2008

Virginia Farm Bureau members will be focusing their legislative efforts on several long-term goals in 2008, according to VFBF President Wayne F. Pryor.

In his address to the organization’s 2007 Annual Convention in Chantilly, Pryor said the failure of Congress to pass an immigration reform bill and the ongoing debate over the next Farm Bill are the top current national issues facing farmers. On the state level, Farm Bureau is focusing on four long-term priority issues.

“We need to assure a stable and dedicated source of funding to fund more than $1 billion over the next 10 years for protecting the environment through cost share programs for best management practices,” Pryor told convention delegates and other members on Nov. 27. “Farmers want and deserve to see more reforms in our state’s eminent domain laws. Expanding the use of renewable fuels is an issue we’ll continue to support, and preserving farmland is more important than ever in a growing state like Virginia.”

Pryor said he believes Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine will do his best to provide more funding for environmental protection efforts like BMP cost-share programs, but the next state budget is already tight due to declining state tax revenues.

“Reforming our state’s eminent domain laws is a long-term undertaking,” Pryor said. “Some of the changes we’re seeking to protect the property rights of landowners will require a constitutional amendment, which by law must occur over several years’ time.”

With energy supplies uncertain and prices escalating, Virginia can become a true player in utilizing and producing renewable energy resources, Pryor said. He noted that biofuels, wind energy and biomass conversion are technologies that can be utilized today to help relieve strains on U.S. energy supplies while offering economic benefits for farmers and rural communities.

Almost every rural area in Virginia has seen significant economic growth in recent years, even traditional farming areas like the Shenandoah Valley. With higher land prices and new suburban neighbors, farmers face the challenge of keeping land in production, Pryor said.

“Farm Bureau won matching funding from the General Assembly for local purchase of development rights programs last winter—we need to push for more funding every year for that program and others to help landowners preserve working farms in Virginia,” he said.

With 148,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, VFBF is Virginia’s largest farm organization. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization that supports its members through legislative lobbying, leadership programs, commodity marketing and risk management services, insurance products and other benefits.