Home Background Testimonials Student Programs Adult Programs Video Clips Recent Clients In The News On The Farm Contact Information	PAL Graduate Campaigns For Political Office Matt Lohr, a livestock, grain and vegetable farmer from Broadway, Va., a former public school teacher and a motivational speaker, now hopes to add one more title to his resume. He is running for a seat in the state Legislature left vacant by a retiring lawmaker. When Lohr signed up for a Farm Bureau campaign school earlier this year, he didn't know how soon he would use the skills he learned. By the time he attended the campaign school in March, he had just registered to run for office. Long before attending the campaign school, however, Lohr had already received extensive training through the American Farm Bureau Federation's Partners in Agricultural Leadership (PAL) program. He was a member of the first PAL class in 2003. He said that experience helped move him closer to the goal that he is now working to achieve. "I think that being in the PAL program both helped me gain the skills I needed and showed me what could be accomplished with those skills," said Lohr. "I guess I knew since being active in FFA that I wanted to enter the political arena someday. What the PAL program did is bring that closer to a reality, that I could do this." Lohr started serving in leadership roles early. He was the state FFA president and national vice president in 1991. Since then, he has gone on to serve on the Rockingham County Planning Commission, on the county school board and as county Farm Bureau president. He is running as a Republican for the 26th House district seat, representing the agricultural central Shenandoah Valley. He has the endorsement of the current House delegate, gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore, Sen. George Allen and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The other candidate in the race is a Democrat who has positioned himself in the center in order to appeal to the rural, conservative voters in the area. Lohr's challenge is, largely, to distinguish his position on the issues from that of his opposition. His platform includes improving education in the state. In addition, his position on taxes and what he calls government accountability is clear. "I want to make sure we can fund our priorities with the revenue we have instead of raising taxes," he said. Lohr wants to increase economic opportunity so that young people will choose to live in the Shenandoah Valley, while also maintaining Virginia's agricultural viability. He said he has learned a lot about what it will take to keep farmers profitable by working on AFBF's Making American Agriculture Productive and Profitable (MAAPP) study group. The MAAPP group is analyzing information from agricultural and economic experts from around the country to predict the future of agriculture. One of his assignments on the study group is looking at the quality of life in rural America, something that he has also addressed during his campaign. He says that he wants to ensure that agriculture will be a part of Virginia's future. "The Shenandoah Valley is the No. 1 agricultural area in the state, but it's also one of the fastest growing areas. Still," he said, "agriculture is the bread and butter. My focus is not just on saving open space, but also on keeping farmers profitable so they don't have to sell out to developers." Lohr said that the media and issues training of PAL were key for him. "One of the best parts of it was when we did interviews with the media. They were tough," he said. "They set you up for tough situations, and it makes doing real interviews easier. The training is really hands-on." Another member of the first PAL class, Kerry Gibson of Utah, ran for a seat in his state Legislature last year and won. (See May 2, 2005, issue of Farm Bureau News.) A couple of members of the current PAL class say they could also run for public office someday. Although it isn't the only way to make a contribution, it's proving to be one of the most popular among those trained through the PAL program. Lohr gives Farm Bureau and PAL a great deal of the credit for where he is now. "I've been very blessed to be involved in Farm Bureau," he said. "I feel like that involvement has helped prepare me for politics. It's exciting to have the chance to really understand Farm Bureau's issues and represent the interests of its farmer members."