Virginia Evergreen Summer 2018

Heidi served as Obesity Prevention Coordinator with the Virginia Foun- dation for Healthy Youth, where she developed initiatives and partner- ships throughout Virginia to increase access to healthy foods and opportu- nities for physical activity. Heidi has previously held roles in the Office of the First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe and for the Virginia De- partment of Health. Heidi serves as the Vice President of the Alumni Board of the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for Shalom Farms. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech’s College of Ag- riculture and Life Sciences and a Master of Science degree from James Madison University and serves as an adjunct professor at Virginia Com- monwealth University. She is a na- tive of Lunenburg County and a resi- dent of the City of Richmond. This piece of legislation addresses key priorities for specialty crops and horticulture, mainly focused around research and innovation. Some highlights of the bill include: Funding would be $80 million per year, though $25 million is dedicated to research addressing severe threats to the citrus industry. We seek full funding ($80 million) for all specialty crops. Priorities for research are re- fined and expanded to include mech- anization and automation of labor-in- tensive tasks, decision support sys- tems, and prevention and monitoring systems for pests, including quaran- tine pests. Funding would continue at $80 million per year. These programs provide 'first Farm Bill: Why it Matters to the Green Industry

dollars' for responding to and mitigat- ing invasive plant pest threats and providing access to clean, pathogen tested accessions of tree fruit, small fruit, grapevines, hops, and roses for evaluation, development, and propaga- tion. These grants, mostly administered by the states, have funded numerous re- search, statistical, and marketing pro- grams benefiting the green industry. The legislative proposal would fund this program at $85 million per year and seeks to clarify eligible projects and performance evaluation language that has hampered use of the program. Other areas of special interest for AmericanHort during the Farm Bill process are to expand options for pro- tecting plant breeders' rights to spur in- novation, and to ensure that "safety net" disaster programs work better for nursery and Christmas tree producers. Provided by AmericanHort Lighthouse Program in partnership with the NCTA 4/17/18 AmericanHort Wel- comes Farm Bill Pest and Disease Funding AmericanHort enthusiastically wel- comed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue’s announcement earlier today that the U.S. Department of Agricul- ture (USDA) is allocating almost $70 million in new funding for invasive plant pests and disease projects. The funding is intended to prevent the in- troduction or spread of pests that threaten U.S. agriculture and the envi- ronment, and to sustain the infrastruc- ture necessary to ensure that disease- free, certified planting materials are available to U.S. nurseries and spe- cialty crop producers. “Through the Farm Bill Section 10007, the USDA strengthens our nation’s ability to safeguard U.S. specialty

Governor Northam An- nounces Administration Appointments Secretariat of Agriculture and Forestry Brad Copenhaver Deputy Secretary of Agri- culture and Forestry Brad Copenhaver has been appointed Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. Brad grew up on his fam- ily’s beef cattle and burley tobacco farm in Washington County. After working on Capitol Hill as a legisla- tive correspondent for Congressman H. Morgan Griffith (VA-9 ), he was the Director of Government Af- fairs at the Virginia Agribusiness Council , where he worked closely with the General Assembly and Vir- ginia congressional delegation on a variety of issues including animal welfare, food safety and labeling, the environment and water quality, and international trade. Brad was a Pamplin Scholar at Vir- ginia Tech and graduated with de- grees in political science and agricul- tural economics, and he is currently completing his MBA at the Univer- sity of Washington. During his edu- cation career, Brad has served as a National Beef Ambassador, Virginia 4-H President, and treasurer of the UW Graduate and Professional Stu- dent Senate, and he spent summers working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Meat Export Federation in To- kyo, and Bryant Christie, Inc., an ag- ricultural exports consulting firm in Seattle. Heidi Hertz Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Heidi Hertz has been appointed As- sistant Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. Prior to her appointment,

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VCTGA News Journal ‒ Summer 2018 VCTGA News Journal –Summer 2018