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Smyth County farmer re-elected to Farm Bureau board

Beef cattle producer Archie B. Atwell of Ceres was re-elected Dec. 2 to a fifth three-year term on the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors.

Elections of directors were held at the organization’s 2009 Annual Convention in Richmond.

Atwell chairs the VFBF Burley Tobacco Advisory Committee and the Dairy Advisory Committee. As a member of the board of directors he will represent Farm Bureau producer members in Grayson, Smyth and Washington counties.
He is a past president of the Smyth County Farm Bureau and has served on that organization’s board of directors since 1971. He also serves on the Smyth County Planning Commission and chairs his local soil and water conservation board.

Atwell has taught vocational agriculture at Bland High School and worked with various programs for young farmers. He is a former 4-H club leader.

He also has served on the boards of Southern States Cooperative Inc. and his local Farm Service Agency. He serves as a representative for Virginia Farm Bureau on the Burley Tobacco Council in Lexington, Ky.

The retired U.S. Army Reserves major holds a bachelor’s degree in dairy science from Virginia Tech. He and his wife, Darleyne, attend Red Oak Union Church, where Atwell teaches adult Sunday school. He also is a Mason and member of Bland Lodge #206.

With nearly 150,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, VFBF is Virginia’s largest farmers’ advocacy group. Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to protecting Virginia’s farms and ensuring a safe, fresh and locally grown food supply.