Featured Article (July 2004)

Ten Questions For Spencer Neale, Jr., senior assistant director with the commodity/marketing department of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation is a general farm membership organization with more than 142,000 members. Its overriding mission is to offer services to farmers and rural families. It has been in operation for over 75 years and is headquartered in Richmond. Membership is broken down into two categories, producers who are actively engaged in farming and ranching, and associates who join to use some of the services offered, like insurance. It is wholly controlled by its members. The producer members offer guidance and direction to the company through a well established and highly effective grassroots system. The 88 Virginia county Farm Bureaus are affiliated with the Virginia Farm Bureau who is in turn is part of the American Farm Bureau Federation, as are Farm Bureaus in all other 49 states and Puerto Rico. The American Farm Bureau’s offices are located in Washington, D.C

1. Equine is Virginia’s fifth largest agricultural producer. Does the Virginia Farm Bureau have many members who are horse owners?

The majority of farmers in the state are members. Obviously, a lot of those people are horse owners. As for people who only raise or own horses, yes, I think a lot of them are also members. What is harder to gauge, and an area we think we can have some membership growth, is the large numbers of people who may be getting involved with horses without a background in agriculture.

2. What types of services does the Virginia Farm Bureau offer to horse owners?

We are a general farm organization that tries to meet the needs of as many farmers as we can as well as our non-producer, associate members, so most of our services are not developed with a specific commodity in mind. We offer economic services, which are available to all our members, and then non-profit activities through which we interact directly with our producer members. Our economic services range from a wide variety of insurance products, to travel planning services, to eyewear savings, to auto and truck tire sales, to a long-distance phone service program - these are just some of the things we offer. On our non-profit side, we have an awful lot to offer to the equine industry. We’ve got considerable staff resources with a lot of experience and expertise. We are used to interacting and working cooperatively with commodity organizations, government agencies, our land-grants, private sector companies and organizations, we bring one more voice to the table. We do this on the local, state, regional, national level and international levels.

3. The Virginia Farm Bureau insures 2/3 of the farms in Virginia. Does the Virginia Farm Bureau offer insurance that is geared to horse owners?

Our insurance company offers a wide array of insurance coverages for farmers in Virginia, including horse owners. We think we’re the best company around to insure a horse owner’s home, barns and equipment. In terms of liability insurance needs, the level of coverage available varies. We can provide coverage for policyholders who own pleasure horses and may board a few horses for others. For larger commercial equine operations, for mortality coverage and care, custody and control coverage, our agents have access to a variety of options that can offer specialized insurance in these areas. We’re definitely eager to assist Virginia’s horse owners find the coverages that they need.

4. The Virginia Farm Bureau has been instrumental in lobbying for the horse industry. What equine issues have the Virginia Farm Bureau been involved in with the General Assembly?

A couple of recent examples would be our work with an industry coalition a couple of years ago to strengthen Virginia’s equine liability law and our recent involvement with getting state funds restored for debt service for the Virginia Horse Center. We have always been involved in equine issues that are surfaced by our county Farm Bureaus and end up as policy. It’s also really important for people to realize that we also work very effectively on issues that may not be specific to a commodity, but impact a lot of different people that are farmers and rural residents. Things like tax issues, labor, environmental programs, property and zoning issues, marketing initiatives, these are just a few examples. Beyond lobbying, we are also very involved on other types of issues. Two examples of areas where we are putting some resources into are the issue of a nationwide equine identification program and working with some national and state equine groups looking at the possibility of getting horses eligible for disaster assistance programs, available to other livestock producers, at the federal level.

5. Does each county have a local Farm Bureau that horse owners could contact for information and assistance?

We have 88 independent county Farm Bureaus, these are owned by those counties and managed by boards of directors made up of producer members. An individual or family actually is a member of their county Farm Bureau. If people at the county level can’t answer questions someone might have, they will certainly point you in the right direction.

6. The Virginia Farm Bureau has an equine committee that meets several times a year. How was this committee chosen and how have they helped the Virginia Horse Industry?

We’ve had an equine committee for nine years now. It’s one of fourteen commodity advisory committees that my department works with. Our committees are appointed annually by our president, Bruce Hiatt is our current president. These appointments come from recommendations provided at the county level. We worked hard to try to put together a group that represented the overall horse industry, not specific breeds or disciplines. We are trying to address issues that impact the entire equine sector; I think we’ve been very successful in doing this. It’s a great committee. I would note that Mr. Hiatt was instrumental in getting the American Farm Bureau to appoint an equine committee at the national level a couple of year’s ago.

7. Is the Virginia Farm Bureau in favor of the proposed feed check off program?

We don’t have an official position, yet. Our equine advisory committee has made a recommendation that we support the feed checkoff, but that’s going to have to work its way through our process in order to become an official position. Our direction at the state level on policy issues is developed from the county level up by our producer members. County Farm Bureaus submit policy recommendations, usually in the summer or fall. These are voted on by our members at our annual meeting after Thanksgiving. Then we have our policy positions for the year ahead. This grassroots involvement reinforces our credibility with legislators because they know that hundreds of farmers across the state have discussed issues thoroughly before they become Farm Bureau policy. In the meantime, we will continue our work and discussion with an industry coalition that has been looking at the feed checkoff concept for several months now.

8. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the horse industry.

I see two of them. The first is how do you bring this industry together, how do you define common goals and issues that transcend the diverse nature of the equine sector. I’m excited because there is a lot of work being done in Virginia by various breed and discipline groups to try and address this, including Farm Bureau. The other challenge I think is getting some of the new entrants into the horse industry, as well as some who have been around a while, to really feel comfortable and embrace the fact that they are agriculture; the horse industry is facing many of the same issues that other commodities are dealing with. These might be environmental, animal health, trade, land use - there is definitely strength in numbers and the horse industry has an important role to play in maintaining and preserving Virginia agriculture.

9. There is no mention of horses on you website. Is this an oversight?

Not at all. There are really not a lot of references to specific commodities on our web site unless there is a burning issue at hand. Horses are routinely featured in our monthly publication the Farm Bureau News and our weekly news leads which are distributed to media outlets statewide, which are put together by our communications department.

10. What are the benefits to being a Virginia Farm Bureau member?

For your $40 annual membership dues, you’re entitled to all the services and programs that we offer. A tour of our web site gives a good idea of what you get when you are a member. Now, if you are a producer member, you can have a voice in helping set our policies and the direction we might take as an organization as far as policies, programs and services offered.

For information on how to become a Virginia Farm Bureau member visit www.vafb.com or call 804-290-1000.