WILLIAMSBURG—The agricultural legacy cultivated by J.M. “Jerry” Jenkins of Blackstone is rooted in the success of Virginia’s largest private industry.

A lifetime of farm experience at home and internationally, decades of commitment to state agriculture, and ongoing mentorship to Southside Virginia farmers earned him Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award.

Jenkins served 50 years on the VFBF state board of directors, and recently was recognized at the organization’s annual convention in Williamsburg. He was the recipient of the Distinguished Service to Virginia Farm Bureau in 2019.

As the organization’s previous District 11 director, Jenkins represented Farm Bureau producer members in Brunswick, Charlotte, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg counties. He is a grain producer and former tobacco grower who chaired the VFBF Flue-Cured Tobacco Advisory Committee and is a member of the VFBF Soybean & Feed Grains Advisory Committee. He also is a past president of Lunenburg County Farm Bureau. As part of the VFBF Building Committee, he was instrumental in choosing the West Creek site as Farm Bureau’s state office.

On the state level, Jenkins was a member of Virginia’s Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, and the multi-state Tobacco Associates Inc. board for 20 years.

He also served growers nationally and internationally, as a supervisor of tobacco production in Venezuela for British American Tobacco Co., the U.S. Department of Agriculture Tobacco Marketing Committee, and the American Farm Bureau Tobacco Advisory Committee.

As demand for tobacco decreased, Jenkins advocated to work out a fair deal for Virginia’s growers during Master Settlement Agreement negotiations in the late 1990s.

“It was quite an argument,” he recalled. “I think one of the most important things we accomplished was to make sure that tobacco farmers would get a portion of that money.”

“Jerry really was a mentor to me, and I don’t know if I ever told him that,” said former VFBF President Wayne Pryor, who served 18 years as board president. “He’s such a deep thinker. And when he spoke, you’d better listen, because what he said was usually very important and usually was right. He was a great leader in the tobacco industry for many, many years. He was very well thought of, not only in this state, but really across the Southeast.”

Before he began farming in 1963, Jenkins worked as a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Gloucester County and as a teacher in Brunswick and Nottoway counties.

As the longest-serving board member in the organization’s history, VFBF President Scott Sink said Jenkins’ wealth of knowledge and business acumen were influential in shaping the company’s vision and supporting its growth.

“Mr. Jenkins’ contributions and strategic foresight were foundational in shaping the modern vision of the organization,” Sink said. “As Farm Bureau’s longest-serving board member, his ability to connect field challenges with enterprise goals has left an indelible mark on Virginia agriculture.”

With almost 137,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, VFBF is Virginia’s largest farmers’ advocacy group. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to supporting Virginia’s agriculture industry.

View more convention news as it becomes available at vafb.com/convention, and follow us on social media via #VFBF25 .

Contact Kathy Dixon, assistant director of communications, at 804-370-3055.