The Virginia Wine Industry Needs Your Support!

Dear Members and Industry Colleagues,

As you may know, the Virginia grape breeding project is under threat from federal funding cuts.  One vital position has already been eliminated.  Please contact your United States Congressional Representative and ask him/her to prevent further cuts to this important program.  You can cut and paste the letter below into the contact form for your Senators and Representative.  Be sure to include your name and full address at the bottom of your submission. Follow this link for their contact forms.  If you don’t know your Congressional District, you can find it on this map.

Thank you,
The VVA Board
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Subject: Urgent – Safeguard Viginia’s Wine Future – USDA Funding at Risk

Dear “Elected Official”

I am writing as a constituent and a Virginia farmer.

As you know, the Virginia wine industry is a growing and dynamic part of the state’s agricultural landscape. Much of the success can be attributed to forward thinking, dedicated grape growers who continue to embrace new technologies and innovation. One of the most exciting current endeavors in our state is a collaborative breeding effort between the industry, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, USDA ARS and the Virginia Winemakers Research Exchange. This initiative is breeding new Virginia grape varieties that produce high quality wine and that are more resilient under our growing conditions.

I am concerned that aggressive actions against USDA could jeopardize the breeding activities at ARS. The program has already experienced work disruption as a result of DOGE actions, and further changes will endanger the current investments from the industry, the state, and USDA, potentially derailing one of the industry’s top priorities.

This initiative is crucial to our wine industry and its impact on the state’s agricultural sector, and we ask that you do everything in your power to protect the project from further disruption at USDA.

If you would like to learn more about the breeding program and its importance to our state’s industry, please let me know.

Thank you,