Agricultural News
Zippy Duvall Becomes 12th President of the American Farm Bureau as 2016 AFBF Convention Concludes
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 03:12:00
It took three ballots on Tuesday afternoon in Orlando- but on the third ballot, at least 177 delegates voted for George Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall to become the 12th President of the American Farm Bureau.
Vincent "Zippy" Duvall is a poultry, cattle and hay producer from Greene County, Georgia, and served as president of the Georgia Farm Bureau for 9 years. Duvall has held numerous leadership positions in Farm Bureau and his local community.
Duvall's first act as President of the organization was a request that he be allowed to bring his family to the podium to allow them to share in his moment. Delegates shouted yes and the picture here is of Duvall and his wife being shown as the new first family of AFBF.
In his post election news conference, Duvall responded to a reporters question about his first name- and if, as the President of a national farm organization, if he planned on keep using Zippy or not. Duvall said that was all he had ever answered to- and that he had a son and grandson with the same given name- Vincent- and that they were already using it, so he would just keep on using Zippy.
Duvall and his new Vice President, Scott VanderWal, who is a third-generation family farmer from Volga, South Dakota, told reporters that they were proud products of the Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers program- and both pointed to a strong belief in God as foundational in who they are. Duvall told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays that he is mindful that Farm Bureau needs to do a better job of utilizing the talent developed in the YF&R program after those young adults turn 35 years old and are out due to age.
In the post convention news conference, Duvall expressed his desire to bring Farm Bureau into the same room with other ag commodity groups- and find common ground on the issues facing farmers and ranchers- with the end result a stronger front in the battle against the groups who don't like modern production agriculture.
In his final pitch to the delegates before the election, Duvall spoke of what he sees as one of the main reasons farmers do what they do in producing food and fiber- "you see, we have a moral responsibility to the population of this country and this world to step up to the plate and make sure they have food for their children- and that's our responsibility." Later in his comments he added "I think that we are put here as farmers at this time to be stewards of God's great work- and if you elect me, I will hold true on our commitment of a common cause, common values and a common voice."
Listen to his final comments to delegates ahead of the vote by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
To hear that post convention news conference with both Duvall and VanderWal, click here.
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