Essex County cattle and grain producer J. Barry Bates of Tappahannock was elected Dec. 3 to a third three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held at the VFBF 2025 Annual Convention in Williamsburg.

As a board member, Bates will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, Mathews, King and Queen, King William, Middlesex, Northumberland, Lancaster, Richmond and Westmoreland counties.

He has been a Farm Bureau member for 26 years, chairs the VFBF Aquaculture Advisory Committee, the Soybean & Feed Grains Advisory Committee and serves on the VFBF Livestock Advisory Committee.

Bates also is a past Essex County Farm Bureau president and current member of that organization’s board. Additionally, he serves on the Essex County Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Committee and Essex County Airport Authority. He is a member of the Northern Neck Land Conservancy board.

Bates and his family reside on Mount View Farm, where they raise black Angus beef cattle and grow hay for their herd.

He and his wife, Suzanne, are members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. They have two children.

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.