The Shadow
RICHMOND, Va. (VR) —Virginia’s next generation of agricultural leaders kicked off three days of networking, learning and growing by carrying their voices to the Virginia Capitol.
As part of the 2026 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmer’s Winter Expo, themed “Plowing the Past to Cultivate the Future,” young farmers from across Virginia met at the General Assembly on Feb. 26 to foster connections, learn, and explore the future of farming with administration leaders.
Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Katie Frazier commended young farmers for “helping drive so much of the good work that’s done in the commonwealth to protect our No. 1 and No. 3 industries”—agriculture and forestry.
“We are here to be your voice at the table,” she remarked. “We want to bring your feedback and your issues to Richmond so that we can make great decisions as we move forward.”
She outlined the administration’s three priority areas for supporting the state’s agriculture and forestry industries: market access and economic development; conservation and protecting working lands; and investing in the workforce of the future.
Attendees heard about joint efforts in these areas from Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Green, State Forester Terry Lasher, Virginia Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova and Deputy Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Adrienne Kotula.
Participants also engaged in discussions with Frazier, Bulova and Kotula about challenges facing the next generation of farmers—touching on issues like land access, funding eligibility for Agricultural Best Management Practices, and support for ag educators.
Martha Moore, VFBF senior vice president of governmental relations, encouraged young farmers to brainstorm potential solutions to help strengthen Farm Bureau’s advocacy efforts moving forward.
Attendees also learned about professional and rural development opportunities from Kristie Proctor and Chandler Vaughan of the Virginia Rural Center.
The center is a partnership of the Sen. Frank Ruff Jr. Center for Rural Virginia and the Council for Rural Virginia, which have a joint mission to work with policymakers and stakeholders to create innovative solutions and expand entrepreneurial opportunities to ensure economic prosperity for all regions in the commonwealth.
Vaughan shared the Center for Rural Virginia’s efforts to strengthen rural communities through its Virginia Rural Leadership Institute. The VRLI aims to “retain, attract and develop rural Virginians into innovative, responsible and civic-minded leaders who build strong communities.”
He also highlighted the center’s Rural Virginia Opportunity Dashboard—an interactive mapping tool launched last spring that aims to provide comprehensive data insights and funding opportunities for rural Virginia.
“This is meant to be a time-saving tool to get a deeper understanding about the needs, strengths and opportunities in your city or county, and to quickly identify funding opportunities to address those needs,” he explained.
Vaughan and Proctor encouraged participants to provide feedback on the developing dashboard and help identify missing grant opportunities.
Visit cfrv.org/rvod for more information.
