During our last seminar, we had the honor of visiting the George Washington Carver High School. George Washington Carver High School was an African American High School during segregation for four counties. After segregation, the school was turned into a vocational center. Now, the school has become a special project of the community with the… Continue reading The Struggle for an Education!
For our November Seminar, we traveled to Southside Virginia. Southwest Virginia and Southside Virginia are kindred spirts due to their involved in growing the golden leaf. There are many different types of tobacco grown for many different reasons. Southwest Virginia has traditionally grown burley tobacco (air cured) and Southside has traditionally grown flu cured tobacco… Continue reading Tobacco & Strong Leaders
Traveling through the Northern Neck was a wonderful experience! I truly enjoyed the unspoiled landscape! Seeing the culture, strong agriculture, and tie to the water was very intriguing! The people were truly welcoming during our visit! I also enjoyed traveling out to Tangier Island! Traveling on a boat for an hour out to the island… Continue reading Vulnerability
Growing up in the shadows of the Cumberland Mountains, I love the sound of creeks running through the hollers and seeing the island of trees springing forth from the fog in the mornings! I am very proud to be an Appalachian American and I am very fortunate to have been able to come back home! … Continue reading Home is where the heart is!
For our second seminar, we had the opportunity to visit the Port Authority at Norfolk! Being able to compare Norfolk to Savannah was extremely helpful to me to gain perspective on our recent seminar. Both visits truly helped me to understand how global we truly are and the size scale of things. At the Port,… Continue reading Port of Savannah
As we traveled through beautiful Georgia and South Carolina, I was amazed by the operations that we visited! We visited large operations and small! For myself, I noticed certain themes present themselves during our travels. The two biggest themes that seem to present themselves was diversification for profitability and farm transition with new farmers outside… Continue reading Common Themes
I truly enjoyed my visit to Washington D.C. and was proud to know many of the efforts going on to improve our Nation and the community of Washington DC. Visiting the US Capitol was an amazing experience especially getting to see all the wonderful statues of our great leaders. One near and dear to my… Continue reading Ms. Fannon goes to Washington!
Growing up in far Southwest Virginia, stories about Pocahontas and John Smith were fairytales and Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Richmond were distant lands of mystery. Traveling to Richmond for the seminar in January was actually my first trip to downtown Richmond and seeing the Capitol. Unfortunately, I had to leave seminar early and did not get… Continue reading Fairytales & Far Away Mystery Lands
In January, I had the honor of representing Virginia in the National Farm Bureau's Discussion Meet where one of the topics was world trade and trade agreements. This experience and the recent issues with trade deals has brought exporting specifically to my attention. Many are unaware of the amount of agriculture exporting Virginia does itself… Continue reading Virginia Exporting to the World
On November 8, 2018, Dell Cotton introduced our VALOR Class to the world of Virginia Peanuts. Dell Cotton is the manager of the Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Association and executive secretary of the Virginia Peanut Growers Association. Virginia at one time had around 75,000 acres in 2002 with a government quota system much like tobacco. … Continue reading Virginia Peanuts
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