Agriculture, Chesapeake And Natural Resources

Good morning everyone. Welcome to the House Agriculture, so to speak, Natural resources committee. Article 11 of the Virginia Constitution states, we have a special charge on this committee to protect our air, lands and and waters from pollution, impairments or destruction for the benefit, enjoyment and general welfare of the people of the Commonwealth. We also have a serious responsibility to be strong advocates for the largest industries and economic drivers in Virginia, our ag and forestry industries. Together, agriculture and forestry have a total economic impact of over $105 billion and provide more than 490,000 jobs in the Commonwealth. Virginia's ag and forestry production is one of the most diverse in the nation and our exports were recently valued at more than $5.1 billion. There are also over 38,000 family owned farms in Virginia covering more than 7.5 million acres. Together, our committee can ensure that Virginia has a growing and vibrant ag and forestry industry. And I'll say again this year, we need to make it easier for farmers to stay farming. I hope we can continue to ensure that the topics we cover remain bipartisan. And I hope we can find a lot of common ground…