The Torch is Passed
4 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
PRESIDENTIAL PARADIGMS
Charles Wilfong, President, West Virginia Farm Bureau
The American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention was held January 8-12 in Orlando, Florida. We had a large delegation of folks from West Virginia attending who, as always, represented the Mountain State very well.
Farm Bureau is especially proud of the job that Danielle Grant did in the Young Farmer & Rancher Discussion Meet. Danielle made it all the way to the Final Four competition. As a result of being in that Final Four competition, she came home with a new CASE IH tractor as well as other prizes. Danielle prepared for months for the competition and did an absolutely superb job.
Danielle is an Ag Sciences teacher at Buffalo High School in Putnam County. She has graciously offered to write a series of articles for West Virginia Farm Bureau News based on the topics she researched and see Wilfong, page 27
Protecting Our Freedom to Farm in 2016
Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation
I am honored to begin serving alongside you all as the new president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. For almost a century, AFBF has been the leading voice of agriculture, standing up for farmers and ranchers across our great country. But the real strength of Farm Bureau is our active grassroots membership. Like you, I learned a long time ago that I’ d have to step outside my fencerows if I wanted to have a say in the matters affecting my farm. You are the backbone of the organization, and together we can address the toughest issues facing U. S. agriculture in 2016.
Freedom from Government Overreach Farmers and ranchers need to be free to work our land. We have a deep respect for our natural resources— debated at the Discussion Meet. We look forward to learning from her extensive study on those topics.
WVFB Vice-President John Pitsenbarger and I were the two voting delegates from West Virginia at the Convention business session. We had the opportunity to discuss and vote on AFBF policy for the coming year. I believe that we have sound policy to deal with the many issues facing American agriculture. The highlight of the business session was the election of a new president and vice-president of the American Farm Bureau following the decision of Bob Stallman to retire. I must say that Bob has done an exceptional job of leading our organization and he will be missed.
There were a number of very qualified candidates from all over the country running for both president and vice-president of AFBF. In the end Zippy Duvall, President of the Georgia Farm Bureau, was elected
our living depends on it. But some federal agencies, far removed from the realities of farming, seem not to care. Instead of respecting our expertise, they produce unworkable regulations that ignore our concerns and trample our rights. The courts and the Government Accountability Office have called out the Environmental Protection Agency for its unlawful advocacy and legal overreach with the Waters of the U. S. rule. Farmers and ranchers can’ t wait through the years of litigation it may take to resolve this in the courts. We’ re pleased that Congress has recognized this and joined in the call to ditch the rule. The EPA must draft a new rule that acknowledges our concerns and respects our freedoms.
Free to Innovate Technology plays a critical role in improving efficiency and reducing our environmental footprint. We
see Duvall, page 21