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Farm Bureau honors two with Distinguished Service Awards

Two veteran Farm Bureau leaders were recognized Dec. 1 with Distinguished Service Awards at the 2009 Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention in Richmond.

Fauquier County hay producer A. Gray Coyner of Delaplane served on the VFBF board from 1996 to 2008, representing producer members in Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Madison, Orange, Prince William, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties. A Farm Bureau member since 1970, he served as president of the Fauquier County Farm Bureau before his election to the state board.

Coyner chaired the VFBF Livestock Advisory Committee and Natural and Environmental Resources & Forestry Advisory Committee.

“Gray worked hard to help farmers in his district adapt to the explosive growth that has come their way in recent decades,” commented Wayne F. Pryor, VFBF president. “His leadership skills, insight and knowledge of local agriculture have all been valuable assets to Farm Bureau and the members he represented.”

Coyner is a former land conservation officer and liaison to the farming community for the Warrenton-based Piedmont Environmental Council. He also is a director of the John Marshall Soil and Water Conservation District. He is a member of the Fauquier County Excellence in Education Committee, the Governor’s School for Agriculture Advisory Committee and the Virginia Farmland Preservation Task Force under the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He serves as a trustee for Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville.

O.B. Lockhart of Honaker in Russell County served on the VFBF board of directors from 1999 to 2008, representing producer members in Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Scott, Tazewell and Wise counties. The retired teacher began his Farm Bureau career in 1982 within the Russell County Farm Bureau, where he served as a county board member, legislative director and budget chairman. A former burley tobacco grower, Lockhart chaired the VFBF Burley Tobacco Advisory Committee and served on the board of Tobio LLC, a producer-owned company that examined alternative uses for Virginia-grown tobacco.

“O.B.’s leadership with Farm Bureau and his other community and agricultural interests has been tremendous,” Pryor said. “He worked hard to represent the farmers of his district.”

Lockhart is also a past chairman of the Southern States County Cooperative, a past chairman of his local Farm Service Agency board and a former director for the Russell County Cooperative. He’s a member of the American Simmental Association and the Virginia Simmental Association and a past master and past deputy grand master of the Pruner Masonic Lodge.

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.