Farm Bureau honors three with Distinguished Service Awards

Two Virginia Tech educators and a veteran Farm Bureau leader were recognized Dec. 2 at the 2008 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention in Hot Springs.

Dr. David Kohl, professor emeritus of agricultural finance and small business management, and Dr. Dixie Watts Reaves, associate professor of agricultural and applied economics, received the VFBF Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award. Retired VFBF director Paul Anderson of Frederick County was honored with the Distinguished Service to Farm Bureau Award.

Kohl has traveled more than 5.1 million miles, conducting more than 3,000 workshops and seminars for agricultural groups; published four books and more than 400 articles on financial and agribusiness topics; and continues to write regularly for national farm publications.

He has received 11 major teaching awards and eight major Extension and public service awards from Virginia Tech and Cornell University. He has received the American Agricultural Economics Association’s Outstanding Teaching award twice and has been presented with the governor’s award for his distinguished service to Virginia agriculture, as well as the 2004 VFBF Warren Beach Award for support of young farmers.

“Dr. Kohl is being honored not only for his skill in educating the next generation of Virginia farmers, but also for his ability to make the industry of agriculture understandable to others,” said VFBF President Wayne F. Pryor. “With good humor and insight, he has made the complex industry of agriculture more accessible to everyone, especially the bankers who supply farmers across the nation with credit. He has also offered his seminars to Farm Bureau Young Farmer groups at no cost at a time when he could demand top dollar.”

Reaves is also a familiar face to young people in Virginia agriculture. While her research efforts have focused on the economic impact of the tobacco industry in Virginia and on how growers and communities are adjusting to dramatic change, her teaching duties have focused on the principles of cooperative business models.

She has served as president of the Food Distribution Research Society and Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty association. In addition to teaching several cooperative management courses, she has been the principal sponsor of a core-discipline course on cooperative businesses. She has won Virginia Tech’s Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching and its Alumni Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Academic Advising.

Reaves is an advisor and instructor for the Virginia Council of Farmer Cooperatives and serves on the planning committee of the National Institute of Cooperative Education. She was directly responsible for keeping the NICE summer program alive by offering to host the event at Virginia Tech several years ago when funding became tight. She also has served on the Virginia Farm Bureau Marketing Association board as a public director since 2003.
“Dr. Reaves is a dedicated and effective agriculture educator,” Pryor said. “Some of the strongest rural businesses we have today are nonprofit, member-owned cooperatives, including major electrical power and financial institutions. Her work has introduced thousands of students to the benefits of cooperatives.”

Anderson served on the VFBF board of directors from 1998 to 2007. Beginning in 1976 he spent several decades as a Frederick County Farm Bureau leader, board member and county Farm Bureau president. A cattle and hay producer and former peach grower, Anderson also served for many years as a volunteer in the Virginia Civil Air Patrol.

“Paul exemplifies the kind of Farm Bureau leader we all aspire to be,” Pryor said. “His loyal service to his fellow farmers in the northern Shenandoah Valley, particularly in policy development, is deeply appreciated. Throughout his long career in Farm Bureau he has always striven to represent the best interests of agriculture and fellow producers.”

During his service on the VFBF board, Anderson served as chairman of the Products Advisory Committee and as a member of the Labor Advisory Committee and Membership Services Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Frederick County Fruit Growers Association and past chairman of the Virginia Horticulture Society’s Peach Committee.

With 147,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, VFBF is Virginia’s largest farmers’ advocacy group. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to protecting Virginia’s farms and ensuring a safe, fresh and locally grown food supply.