Whitney Bowman was named the 2015 Virginia Farm Bureau Ambassador on March 21 at the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Women’s Conference in Roanoke.

Bowman is the daughter of Joseph and Sharon Bowman of Mount Jackson. She will receive a $3,000 scholarship from Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and the organization’s Women’s Committee and will make public appearances and serve as an advocate for agriculture and Farm Bureau.

She currently is pursing degrees in animal and poultry sciences and dairy science at Virginia Tech and hopes to be an agriculture teacher. She also is active in the university’s Collegiate Young Farmers chapter.

Bowman’s family has a beef cattle operation and grows hay and corn. She is involved in the farm’s daily herd care, veterinary care, nutritional management and marketing, as well as fence construction and building maintenance. She held local-level FFA offices before college and served as Virginia FFA state secretary. She also attended the Virginia Summer Residential Governor’s School for Agriculture.

At the Women’s Conference she shared her intent to blog about her personal experiences in agriculture if she were named Farm Bureau Ambassador “and explain the ‘why’ behind each entry.

“I would use it to begin conversations and share the rationale of agriculture practices. I would encourage and help other Farm Bureau members find their own way to share—through blogs, newspaper columns, inviting consumers to their farms, or even just having agriculture-based conversations with neighbors. As we share our stories, we cultivate appreciation.”

With 128,000 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 protecting Virginia’s farms and ensuring a safe, fresh and locally grown food supply.