HARRISONBURG, Va.— The Virginia Poultry Federation is celebrating its 100-year anniversary. The non-profit, statewide trade association was officially founded Aug. 19, 1925, on the campus of what is now Virginia Tech.
“A group of people that were involved in poultry production met in Blacksburg, Va … and organized what became the Virginia Poultry Federation to coordinate an organization that would look out for the interests of poultry production in Virginia,” Hobey Bauhan, Virginia Poultry Federation, president, said.
Located in Rockingham County, the heart of Virginia’s poultry industry, the federation represents the interests of all sectors of the industry, from farmers to the businesses that provide the goods and services to the industry.
Through the years, the federation has shifted away from a larger staff to become more efficient and focused on its mission, VPF notes.
“Our mission is to promote a positive business climate for poultry and eggs in Virginia,” Bauhan said. “We do that through government relations.”
Bauhan is a lobbyist for the industry at the state level, but the federation gets involved on the national level, as well. It works closely with national trade associations and supports its efforts on the front lines with the Virginia legislature and the federal government.
The federation’s work includes so much more than just government relations. One of its main missions also includes industry education.
“We have a big focus on trying to educate people about the poultry industry,” Bauhan added. “We’ll speak to groups, civics organizations, schools about our industry”
Bauhan explained that there is a great deal of misinformation out there about the poultry industry, so the federation does what it can to rectify that.
Youth programs are also an emphasis included in the federation’s efforts.
“We have a youth day every year where we typically have more than 200 FFA and 4H youth come and participate,” Bauhan noted. “We’ll have some educational activities, trying to foster the new generation of what we hope will be our workforce and the farmers that make our community work.”
The VPF is a small but mighty team that gets a lot of its work done with the help of the community, especially with large events like the Virginia Poultry Festival, which is coming up this month on Sept. 13th.
“It’s going to be open to the public, but we’re really trying to emphasize it with our poultry companies and poultry farms,” Bauhan said. “We want to celebrate all the people in the poultry community.”
There will be live music, food vendors, games and educational activities. However, there will also be a few special presentations to celebrate the federation’s 100-year anniversary.
“The governor issued a proclamation recognizing our anniversary, and Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture, Matt Lohr, is going to be there to present that,” Bauhan noted. “The General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing our milestone and some local legislators will be around to present that. I believe Congressman Ben Cline will be there to make a presentation, as well.”
The overwhelming support and recognition from the government goes to show how much the VPF, and the poultry industry, mean to Virginia. Bauhan reflects on the federation’s 100 years and the community surrounding it.
“We’ve had 100 years of our organization building on science and technology and entrepreneurship and enterprising individuals that have developed the modern poultry industry,” Bauhan said. “I think that everybody involved in our poultry community, whether you’re a farmer or work at a poultry processing facility or a feed mill … can take pride that you’re involved with a community that is helping to feed the world.”
