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John Reid Unveils “Growing Virginia’s Future” Plan to Strengthen Agriculture & Secure Our Food Supply

Stronger Farms. Stronger Families.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 21, 2025


HENRICO, Va. — Today, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor John Reid unveiled the “Growing Virginia’s Future” plan—his commonsense, middle-ground pillar of the Real Virginia Agenda, designed to strengthen agriculture, sustain family farms, and safeguard food security across the Commonwealth.

 

“Agriculture remains Virginia’s backbone—our oldest and most vital industry,” Reid said. “This plan supports local farmers, preserves farmland, and builds career pathways for the next generation—without burdensome red tape or one-size-fits-all mandates.”

 

The “Growing Virginia’s Future” Plan includes four foundational pillars shaped by Farm Bureau priorities:

 

  1. Support Local Farmers & Sustain Farms

    • Tax credits for farms supplying schools, hospitals, and local markets—keeping money and food local.

    • Supportive tax policies to preserve family farms and farmland across generations.

    • Opposition to reinstating the Virginia estate tax, which endangers farm succession and survival.

    • Preserve farmland by slowing losses to development—while encouraging solar on rooftops, brownfields, and marginal lands.

    • Maintain Right to Farm laws and building code exemptions for ag infrastructure.

  2. Cut Red Tape & Keep Programs That Work

    • Streamline permitting for farming businesses like breweries, dairies, and co-ops to help diversify incomes.

    • Full funding for Virginia’s BMP Cost-Share Assistance Program through FY2030, ensuring farmers can continue voluntary conservation.

    • Strengthen Cooperative Extension, land-grant universities, and ARECs to ensure farmers have access to research, training, and technical support.

    • Oppose mandatory Chesapeake Bay conservation practices when farmers have already fully utilized voluntary programs.

    • Protect farmer access to EPA-approved crop protectants, grounded in scientific evidence.

    • Maintain farmworker exemptions to account for regional realities.

    • Expand access to large-animal veterinarians by funding vet school seats and loan repayment programs for rural practice.

  3. Farm-to-Table Careers

    • Expand school and FFA partnerships; extend vocational ag programming across the school year.

    • Increase support for Cooperative Extension, small farm outreach, and succession-planning initiatives like Generation NEXT.

    • Invest in rural workforce development through ag research and hands-on training opportunities.

  4. Rural Infrastructure & Regulatory Support

    • Invest in rural broadband and road upgrades to connect producers to markets.

    • Ensure VDACS, DOF, DCR, and other key agencies are fully staffed to support disease monitoring, inspections, and market access.

    • Encourage dual-use solar (agrivoltaics), preserving productive farmland while advancing clean-energy goals—grounded in local decision-making.

 

“A strong agricultural foundation is essential to food security, rural economies, and family livelihoods—from Richmond to Southwest,” Reid said. “This plan protects that foundation and positions Virginia to thrive well into the future.”

To learn more about the Real Virginia Agenda and John Reid’s plan to support those who serve, visit The Reid Revolution Substack.

 
 
 
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