Grayson County beef cattle and tobacco farmer Richard L. Sutherland of Elk Creek was elected Nov. 29 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 2018 Annual Convention in Hot Springs.

As a board member, Sutherland will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Grayson, Smyth and Washington counties.

He chairs the VFBF Burley Tobacco Advisory Committee and is a member of the Livestock Advisory Committee. He is a past president of the Grayson County Farm Bureau and current  treasurer of the Carroll/Grayson Cattle Producers Association.

Sutherland attended Wytheville Community College and Virginia Tech. He and his wife, Brenda, attend Lebanon Methodist Church, where he serves on the church’s finance committee. They have one son, Matthew, who helps farm part time.

With 129,000 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 #drivingagforward and #VFBFconvention18.

Contact Greg Hicks, VFBF vice president of communications, at 804-290-1139.