The Henley Family

Goochland County

Thomas began his term as chair of the state Young Farmers Committee Dec. 4, 2024. He farms full-time at his family’s multi-generational dairy and grain operation in Goochland County.

Other occupation: Thomas owns a septic tank manufacturing company with his father.

Children: Ava and Raylan

Andy Neel

Russell County

Andy works with his dad to run stocker calves and raise pumpkins.

Other occupations: He works for Meherrin Ag & Chemical.

Subcommittees: Winter Expo Planning

Washington County

Shasta grew up on a dairy and beef cattle farm. Currently, she lives on a beef cattle farm and works part time at her family’s dairy. She participated in FFA and majored in agriculture in college. Shasta taught high school agriculture for 2½ years, and served as a Collegiate YF adviser/sponsor at Virginia Highlands Community College.

Other Occupations: Shasta works as an academic adviser for transfer students at VHCC and is a Collegiate Young Farmers sponsor.

Children: Shasta is expecting her first child in February 2024.

DR Angus

Montgomery County

Deanna grew up in her family’s retail greenhouse business and still helps out when she can. She also manages a small herd of red Angus cattle.

Other Occupations: Deanna is the digital content specialist for the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Office of Communications. She manages social media channels for VT CALS, Virginia Cooperative Extension and Virginia 4-H.

Children: Ellie

The Iraggi Family

Franklin County

Jonathan and Kasie are first-generation farmers, and run a commercial cow-calf operation, with an emphasis on raising bred heifers. Jonathan currently serves on the Franklin County Cattleman’s Association and previously served as the Young Farmers chair on the Franklin County Farm Bureau board of directors from 2020-2024.

Other Occupation: Kasie works in the accounting office for Jewell Machinery and Jonathan works as an agriculture equipment salesman for his family’s Kubota Tractor dealership. He also works as a sales manager for APEX AG LLC, which focuses on selling agricultural drones.

Subcommittees: Collegiate, Safety, Winter Expo Planning and Youth Activities & Outreach

The Greene Family

Augusta County

Clay and Paula are both full-time farmers. Paula works on her family’s dairy and beef operation. Clay works on his family’s beef cattle farm where they raise cow-calf pairs and background feeder heifers.

Other Occupation: Clay manages his own customer operating enterprise, and retails hay and forage supplies.

Subcommittees: New Markets and Safety

Sycamore Banks Farm

Shenandoah County

The Rhodes family—Titus, Cheyenne and their two girls—operate Sycamore Banks Farm in Mount Jackson. They grow broiler chickens for George’s Foods, run 50 Angus brood cow pairs along with raising corn and stocker calves. Each fall, they also invite their local community to the farm for horse-drawn hayrides and a pick-your-own pumpkin patch.

Children: Naomi Jane & Laelynn Alta

The Kidwell Family

Madison County

Courtney is a sixth-generation farmer. She and her husband, Dylan, live on and help run the family’s cow-calf operation. Courtney has served as the Madison County Farm Bureau Young Farmers Chair since 2020 and the Madison County Farm Bureau County Committee’s Secretary since 2023.

Other occupations: Courtney works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. She also is Virginia NRCS’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program coordinator and program manager. Dylan is a firefighter/paramedic for Spotsylvania Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management.

Subcommittees: Collegiate, Safety, Winter Expo Planning and Youth Activities & Outreach

Children: Declan

Fluvanna County

Sarah and Blake both went to Virginia Tech and earned degrees in the College of Agriculture. They both were active members of the VT Collegiate Young Farmers, which is where they met, and both served consecutively as president of the group.

Occupations: Blake is a fertilizer applicator for the Blue Ridge Farmers Co-op in Charlottesville and runs a small cow/calf operation with his dad. He grew up in FFA, and currently serves as vice president of the Fluvanna County Farm Bureau board of directors.

Sarah trains horses and teaches riding lessons in Albemarle County. She grew up involved in 4-H in Rockbridge County, and she now helps lead a 4-H equine club in Albemarle. Sarah and Blake love networking with other farmers and learning how to improve their own agriculture operations.

Nottoway County

Emmily grew up with horses and cattle and earned her bachelor's in animal science from Virginia Tech in 2016. Dustin grew up working in his family's commercial greenhouse and small cattle operation. Emmily and Dustin currently are enjoying mostly hobby animals (chickens, sheep and goats) while Emmily finishes her masters degree. They hope to buy a farm of their own in the next couple of years.

Other occupation: Emmily is a high school agriculture teacher; Dustin is a crew leader for Southwest Virginia Lawn Care.

Adam Davis Farms

Halifax County

Adam owns and operates a corn, soybean and wheat farm in the heart of the Old Tobacco Belt. He also manages an Angus cow-calf operation and raises bred heifers. Adam currently serves on the Halifax County Farm Bureau board and the Virginia Soybean Association board of directors. He also serves as an associate board member for the Halifax Soil and Water Conservation District.

Pet Rock Farm

Charlotte County

Cassie grew up on her family cow/calf operation, Pet Rock Farm, in Charlotte County, which also direct markets a portion of the cattle to local consumers. She grew up participating in 4-H and FFA in multiple aspects, including raising and showing beef cattle, hogs and sheep. Currently, she owns a small herd of Angus cattle that she retained from her show stock. As a result of her interest in animal agriculture, she attended Virginia Tech and majored in animal science and then pursued a certification at North Carolina State University to obtain her agricultural education teaching license.

Other occupation: Cassie currently teaches agriculture and serves as an FFA adviser at Appomattox County High School. In addition to teaching agriculture, since 2017 Cassie is part owner with her parents and sister of Long’s Farm Supply in Brookneal.

King George County

Kelsey is a cattle producer and agriculture teacher at Caroline High School, where she also serves as an FFA adviser.

Children: Elijah Brown

Itata Farms

Surry County

Elizabeth grew up on her family’s Itata Farms, where they grew corn, soybeans, wheat and peanuts, and manage a herd of beef cattle. Her family farm has been in operation since 1939 when her great-grandfather purchased the homeplace, and has been steadily expanding over the years. Their farm currently still grows corn, soybeans and wheat, and now direct markets some of its beef to local residents who wish to buy a half or full cow.

Other Occupation: Elizabeth is an agriculture and natural resources Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Surry and Sussex counties.

The Fox Family

Tazewell County

Michelle began her term as chair of the state Young Farmers committee in 2023. She and Nathan help with their family’s farm and have participated in the Young Farmers program since 2018. In addition to serving as chair, Michelle also is a member of the Tazewell County Farm Bureau board of directors.

Other occupation: Nathan works at Dyna Pump & Electric Co., building and repairing pumps and motors, and Michelle teaches math at Graham Middle School.

Children: Jacob and Jonathan