Virginia Farm Bureau Federation volunteer leaders will speak with state legislators about issues of interest to the commonwealth’s farmers during the organization’s annual Legislative Day on Jan. 29.
Member-identified critical issues for the 2015 session of the Virginia General Assembly are:
• adequate funding for Virginia’s Agriculture Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program;
• adequate funding for operational support and technical assistance for soil and water conservation districts;
• maintaining state oversight and regulation of the application of biosolids and industrial residuals as a source of nutrients on farmland;
• protecting the Right to Farm Act in its current form by only supporting changes that are preferable to the farmer and provide further protection from nuisance lawsuits;
• maintaining the Land Preservation Tax Credit because it is an incentive for farmers to preserve working farms and forests;
• avoiding cuts to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Purchase of Development Rights; and
• maintaining funding such that the integrity of the VDACS Weights and Measures program is not compromised.
“Legislative Day is such an important part of Farm Bureau’s grassroots process,” said Kelly Pruitt, VFBF governmental relations grassroots coordinator. “Farmers from all across the state get the opportunity to lobby their legislators with the issues they determined were most important to the state’s agriculture industry.”
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