VSU Fall Leadership Conference

Post made by Michael Arthur,  State Vice President

On September 28th, Paryce, Addie, and I traveled to Virginia State University for the Fall Leadership Conference. Once I saw the amount of FFA members arriving, I got really excited. The members were given a few supplies for the conference including a pretty cool bag that said “Courage to Lead.” Each of the members went through a set of workshops to help them experience a few things the FFA has to offer. The workshops were facilitated by Collegiate FFA members and Virginia Tech Grad students.

Morgan Slaven facilitated a workshop on FFA opportunities,  focusing on imagining, and exploring the opportunities FFA has to offer, along with overcoming barriers to seize the opportunities. I was able to stand in and help Morgan when ever she needed my help. One thing that really stood out to me in Morgan’s workshop was the closing, where she had a member blow up a balloon, she said the more air we put into the balloon the larger it gets. It mirrors directly over to life and even more so FFA, the more effort and heart we put into it, the more opportunities we have open to us. An amazing way to end a great day.

After the groups rotated through the three workshops we concluded the evening with a little wrap up and talking about the States theme this year: Limitless. It was the perfect setting to sort of release it surrounded by FFA members who really wanted to learn something, they wanted to seize the opportunity that they had in front of them. Perfect way to end a perfect day.

Crop Science: Michael’s Ag. Issues Platform

I chose crop and horticulture sciences for my Ag platform. I chose this topic because its vital that we have a solid crop production to help feed not only us but our livestock as well. I am very passionate about these sciences because I plan on studying them in college. American agriculture has come a long way since the very first tobacco farm in Jamestown. Americans have always put time and research into agriculture because we see the vital necessity of it. Since the Dustbowl, we have had leaps and bounds in crop planting and caring techniques. It is important to stay informed on this issue because it is so important to all of agriculture, and you eat what it produces every day, in some shape or form. If we stay informed with crop and horticulture sciences we are better preparing ourselves for the different career fields we may plan on entering later through life, or even if you plan on not going into agriculture at all, its great to know how your food is raised or even may help you raise some food of your own.

This topic relates to you, the FFA members, because we are the advocates for this industry. Yeah, I know what you are thinking – “We are just high and middle schoolers… what could we do?”  We can do so much ! We are the next generation to take over, and there will always be many issues to tackle. We live in an age of vital importance, the choices that are being made right now will have more of an impact on our lives than we think. The choices in crop planting techniques, the choices in genetics and even the choices by legislature will directly impact our lives when join “the real world.” So stay up to date, if you find something you may think is important read all about it, and  let me know what you find!  Email me at va1vp12@vt.edu!

Southside COLT Conference

Post by Rebekah Slabach, State FFA Vice President

The Southside FFA Area COLT conference and picnic was held on Thursday, September 6^th at Mountain Run Farm. Over one-hundred members, advisers, and special guests were in attendance for this much-anticipated annual event. Liberty High FFA was the host chapter and its members as well as their adviser Ms. Tomlinson spent many dedicated hours planning and organizing COLT and the evening picnic held in Bedford County.

To kick things off, everyone was divided into different groups to compete in an Obstacle Course, consisting of a few teamwork activities for members, with chapters competing against each other for extra fun. Following this exciting start to COLT, members were divided into respective groups and went to a 45-minute chapter office specific workshop. Some members had already been elected, and others were interested in applying for an office. State Officers Addie Guthrie, Michael Arthur, Rebekah Slabach, Emily Hill, and Josh Pinkard were on hand to facilitate the workshops. Past State Officers Joy Powers and James Rockwell also helped with an additional workshop. They helped break down the meaning behind the symbol and opening ceremonies part of the offices. All the members also learned their specific duties for the year, and the state officers gave tips and techniques to help them serve to the best of their ability. FFA members came out of the chapter officer workshops refreshed, renewed, and excited to take what they learned at COLT back to their home chapters this year.

Following the chapter officer workshops, FFA members had the privilege to hear from the owner and farm manager of Mountain Run Farm. MRF raises local, humanely-raised, all natural, premium meats, with a focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship. The farm serves the surrounding Bedford, Lynchburg, Roanoke and Central Virginia areas with nutrient-dense, grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, pork, turkeys, and catfish. This was a unique opportunity for members to hear from a local agriculturist share of his farming heritage and legacy, as well as best management practices and environmental plans to help protect and preserve his farming enterprise.

The Bedford County Young Farmers graciously helped cook and serve the evening meal for the picnic. After an afternoon packed full and filled with an obstacle course, workshops, and presentation from a local farmer, everyone was ready to eat and fellowship with their fellow members and new friends in the Southside area. With full stomachs, lessons learned new friendships, tips and techniques for their chapter office, Southside Area FFA members left the COLT conference with a renewed passion and ignited fire for agriculture, FFA, and serving their chapter and members this year!

Young Farmers Gather For Summer Expo

Post by Michael Arthur, State Vice President

Thursday morning, after finishing the many items I had on my to-do list, I arrived at the final thing on my list: pack for the Virginia Farm Bureau Young Farmers Young Farmers Summer Expo. I pull up the emailed list of items to pack and begin stuffing everything into my suitcase.  After lunch I headed to work, where I worked 8 hours, ending my shift at 9:00pm. After work, I drove to Emily’s house and then we headed to Paryce’s house, finally arriving at about 11:30pm.  We set our alarms for 3:45am, which would give us a plethora of time to arrive in Chatham.

The next morning, early I must say, we set out for our destination. We arrive at the Olde Dominion Agriculture Complex to begin the Expo. Where our experience begins. We receive a tour of the facility and learn about all the functions that can be and has been held at the facility. After the tour of the complex the state officers pile into the van and travel to our first farm tour, Briar View Farm. There we learned about how Robert Mills, the owner, had started his operation, raising it from the ground up. He told us that as long as we are truly passionate about something there is nothing that can stop us. We learned about his Heritage Perdue Chicken Farm. His one chicken operation produced 1/17^th of the entire Perdue chicken operation. After learning about his poultry we were given a tour of his tobacco fields. There he grows the three types of tobacco that is produced in Virginia: Dark, Burley, and flue-cured. Although this product is very labor intensive and  also very costly, Mr.  Mills proceeded to tell us why he actually grew the tobacco. It was because his 11 year-old-son wanted to grow tobacco. He grows this product not because of the money but the time he gets to spend with his kids maintaining and harvesting the product. It was truly inspirational to hear his success story, about his passion, his drive, and his family. It was also great to hear that he had a connection to the Virginia FFA Association, as he served as State President.

The second farm tour of the day, Van Der Hyde Dairy Farm. Here we were able to observe an auto-rotator milking parlor for their Holstein Dairy Cows. We also learned about the farm’s bio-digester, a system that takes the manure from the cattle and breaks it down, just as a normal stomach works. A by-product of the process is methane; the gas is used to power a generator to power the farm. It was cool to see the amazing amount of technology that is open to today’s agriculturalists.

The final stop of the day was at the James River Conference Center in Lynchburg. Here we were able to watch and interact with the Virginia Senate Candidates in an Ag Forum. The candidates gave a small introduction and were asked questions from the audience. Some questions discussed the farm transition process, how the candidate would support Virginia’s Agriculture as a senator, and how the candidates will continue to support Virginia’s small business owners. All the questions were interesting, but the question that caught my attention the most was the question pertaining to Career and Technical Education, specifically agriculture, and the funding from the government, or Perkins Money. As the question was asked, you could feel the eagerness of the five members of my team awaited to hear the answer, an answer that directly pertained to the organization we so proudly represented. It was great to hear how both of the candidates answered the question.

The next morning, we went to Central Virginia Community College to watch and be a part of the many contests and workshops offered for the day. Emily participated in the Outstanding Young Agriculturalist competetion, while Josh and I judged the Discussion Forum. Rebekah and Paryce watched the other contests that were being held. After all the contests and workshops were over we began the farm tours. Our first stop was Gardners Heifers, a farm that raises dairy heifers for other farmers. The business began in 1973, and the combined experience of the farm operators was over 100 years. The heifers would arrive on site weighing about 350lbs and about 4.5 months old. The farm was laid out so that the cows would move around the farm by age. The younger cows would consume high quality feed and hay, while the older cows would consume lesser quality feed and hay. The heifers would be bred and would leave the farm 2 months prior to calving. The farm currently had 500 head of cattle. It was great to hear of an industry that I had never heard of, to raise heifers for another farm. It was a great experience.

The second stop of the day was Royal Oak Farms, a composting farm. The farm recieves materials from many different companies and would compost them into different soils. The farm is certified to break down solids, liquids, and semi-solids. It was the largest compost farm in Virginia with 12 acres of asphalt. After the materials were composted they would be sifted and placed into bins so that they could be shipped to companies that have a purchased the soil. The farm produced roughly 40 million cubic yards of compost each year. It was really cool and unique to learn about the process that the famers had to go through and the time it took from beginning to end of the compost business.

Our third stop took us to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Veterinary Lab. The lab is 1 of 5 labs in Virignia, each being dispersed throughout the state for each region to use. Each lab does the same basic functions: animal testing, food testing, sinology testing, blood and fecal testing.  This particular lab tested food safety as well. The lab would receive roughly 175 samples of dairy products weekly that would be tested, and would receive roughly 40 samples of cheeses quarterly each year, along with many other samples to test. It was great to tour the facility and learn about the many process that each test would go through along with seeing the many advanced technology the lab possessed.

The final stop of the day was Knoll Crest Farm, a farm that primarily raises bulls. It was a 3^rd generation farm located in Charlotte County. The farm has a legacy of all pure-bred cattle. It began with Herford bulls, Gelbvieh in the ’80s, Angus in the early ’90s, and more recently Balancers, which is an Angus/Gelbvieh cross.   The farm had an unconditional 12 month guarantee on their bulls that are sold, one that ensures that if the bull had been hurt in any way (i.e. struck by lightning, broken leg, hit by a train, etc.), the farm would reimburse for the animal. The bulls that are sold normally  live within a 100 mile radius of Knoll Crest. After learning about the farm, we had a banquet and the results of the day’s contests would be announced.

It was so great to meet so many people that were passionate about agriculture and were so eager to learn about other kinds of farming. I learned so many different things about agriculture, it is such a vast field of study, and it has such an impact on society today, without agriculture,  we would be hopeless. With agriculture being the number one contributor to Virginia’s economy, it was great to learn about such a large part of our states commodities.