2025 SESSION

INTRODUCED

25106972D

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 630

Offered February 10, 2025

Commending agricultural producers in Virginia.

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Patrons—Laufer, Bulova, Clark, Lopez, Rasoul, Watts and Willett

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WHEREAS, with more than 38,000 farms and more than 67,000 farmers, the top economic sector in the Commonwealth is agriculture; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Assistance Program was created in 1984 and has grown to develop and promote more than 60 conservation practices in 2025; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Assistance Program aims to promote voluntary adoption of conservation management practices by farmers and land managers to decrease nonpoint-source pollution contributions to state waters, including the Chesapeake Bay; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth's 47 soil and water conservation districts deliver this program locally, as directed by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, to provide farmers the information and technical assistance needed to meet the Commonwealth's water quality goals; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the soil and water conservation districts provide farmers throughout the Commonwealth with education, guidance, and incentive programs to encourage nutrient reduction and water quality improvement; and

WHEREAS, the total number of participants in the program, which is fully funded for the current biennium, continues to increase, with 2,399 farmers participating in FY2024, 509 of whom were new participants; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That agricultural producers in Virginia hereby be commended for their commitment to conserving the Commonwealth's natural resources and their ongoing efforts to use conservation practices to help the Commonwealth meet its nutrient load reductions for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare copies of this resolution for presentation to Virginia Farm Bureau Federation as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for the outstanding conservation practices demonstrated by agricultural producers in the Commonwealth.