The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers Committee has recognized Clay and Maryanne Francis of Richmond with their 2018 Warren Beach Award for their outstanding contributions to the VFBF Young Farmers Program.

Early in her keynote remarks at the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation 2018 Annual Convention, author Michele Payn asked 700 farmers for a show of hands.

The Rappahannock Record in Kilmarnock captured Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s 2018 Ishee-Quann Award, the top honor in Farm Bureau’s annual Journalism Awards program. The newspaper, which serves readers in part of the state’s Northern Neck, also won the non-daily newspaper category for the third consecutive year and for the 12th year in the past 14.

Best-selling author Michele Payn will share excerpts from her latest book, Food Truths from Farm to Table, on Nov. 27 during Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s 2018 Annual Convention at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs.

A wide variety of speakers at this year’s Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention will be steering the event’s Driving Agriculture Forward theme.

Many competition results from the 2018 State Fair of Virginia are available online.

Limited-scale aquaculture production for the local market is the theme of the 31st Annual Aquaculture Field Day at Virginia State University. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the university’s Randolph Farm, 4415 River Road. 

The winner of this year’s giant watermelon competition set a new State Fair of Virginia record with a whopping 254-pound entry.

More than 50 medical, nutrition and nursing students from the University of Virginia toured local farms and enjoyed local foods at a Farm Bureau-sponsored farm-to-table event Sept. 25.

From the moment the front gate opens on Sept. 28, Virginia agriculture will be in the spotlight at this year’s State Fair of Virginia.