Farm Credit Celebrates 2021 Virginia Ag Literacy Week Virtually

Farm Credit of the Virginias, a lending cooperative serving Virginia, West Virginia, and western Maryland, celebrated Agriculture (Ag) Literacy Week virtually, which took place March 15-19.

Virginia Ag Literacy Week is a yearly observance in March spearheaded by Virginia Farm Bureau and Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) in which volunteers visit schools across the Commonwealth to read a designated book and lead related agricultural activities. The purpose of the annual initiative is to increase agricultural literacy among children. 

Farm Credit of the Virginias participates in the observance every year. Typically, team members visit area classrooms across the footprint to share agricultural education with students in-person and donate the book to classroom libraries, although due to COVID-19 restrictions and health precautions, team members will not be visiting physical or virtual classrooms this year. 

In place of the annual VA Ag Literacy Week classroom visits, Farm Credit of the Virginias employed virtual strategies to celebrate and promote ag literacy in March. The association created and shared a fun, employee read-aloud of the 2021 selected story, "How Did That Get in my Lunchbox" by Chris Butterworth, featuring 14 employees, including Farm Credit of the Virginias CEO, Brad Cornelius. Additionally, the Farm Credit Knowledge Center provided educational resources and online teaching materials to help connect students to agriculture.

To sign-up to access the video and accompanying materials, opt-in using your name and email address at the provided link: www.FarmCreditofVirginias.com/Access-ALW2021 Following form submission, directions to access the exclusive resources will be emailed to the provided address. Participants who sign-up for our 2021 Ag Literacy Week resources today to be eligible to receive a FREE copy of the 2021 book of the year.

Chief External Affairs and Marketing Officer, Katie Frazier, shared, “Farm Credit of the Virginias continues to support and encourage agricultural literacy. Our team members look forward to ag literacy week year-after-year, myself included. While public health concerns may not allow us to physically visit schools to participate, we are encouraged to share the importance of ag literacy in our territory and beyond using alternative and exciting new methods. Through our physical book donation of "How Did That Get in my Lunchbox" to area institutions and the virtual read aloud video and accompanying resources we've shared, we're proud to once again support the Virginia Farm Bureau and AITC in their efforts to advance agricultural literacy in the state."

About Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC)

AITC is a national program that promotes greater understanding of agriculture through education. The Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom is a nonprofit organization that receives financial and administrative support from Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. If you’d like to learn more about Virginia AITC, please visit their website: https://agclassroom.org/va/

About Farm Credit of the Virginias

Farm Credit of the Virginias provides over $1.8 billion dollars in financing to more than 11,000 farmers, agribusinesses and rural homeowners throughout Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland. Farm Credit is a cooperative capitalized largely through investments made by farmers, ranchers and the rural homeowners and businesses that borrow from them. In fact, as part of a nationwide network they are the largest single provider of agricultural credit in the United States and have been for over 100 years. Farm Credit helps maintain and improve the quality of life in rural America and on the farm through its constant commitment to competitive lending,  expert financial services and for facilitating and sharing knowledge and resources through the Farm Credit Knowledge Center. For more information, visit www.FarmCreditofVirginias.com.