Essex County cattle and grain producer J. Barry Bates of Tappahannock was elected Nov. 30 to a second three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of officers and directors were held at the VFBF 2022 Annual Meeting of Voting Delegates.

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

He has been a Farm Bureau member for 23 years, chairs the VFBF Soybean & Feed Grains Advisory Committee and serves on the VFBF Livestock Advisory Committee.

He 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.

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 133,000 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 is shared at vafb.com/convention, and follow us on social media via #VFBFannualmtg22.

Contact Pam Wiley, vice president of communications, at 804-291-6315.